The Things We Never Did or Said
by Little C
Summary: It's the seventh year at Hogwarts for Lily and the Marauders. While James is trying to earn Lily's favour, Sirius takes an interest in Lily's best friend Lindsey. Spoilers for book one to five
1. Default Chapter

**Harry Potter or any other characters associated with the book are the sole property of J. K. Rowling. Any original character created solely for this story belongs to me, Little C.**

**Reviews, comments and even flames are welcome. A big thank you to my beta reader Dorothy.** **Chapters 1 to 5 have been through a slight revision to eliminate typos and such.

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**The Things We Never Did or Said, Chapter One**

"Hurry up or we'll miss the train," Lily called. Lindsey did her best not to tip over her trolley as she dashed along the platform at breakneck speed.

Ahead of her, Lily disappeared through the barrier to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Lindsey hated crossing the barrier so she closed her eyes seconds before passing through the brick wall.

At the other side she opened her eyes and looked around at all the people, most familiar but also some new first year students.

"We made it," Lily said with relief as they both busied themselves with getting their trunks onto the train, ignoring the big crowd of people further down the aisle.

"I see the Fabulous Four is holding court," Lindsey said dryly.

"Maybe they've grown?" Lily suggested, sneaking a peak at the group.

"And their ego with them," Lindsey said bitterly. "I seriously doubt they've grown into them over the summer."

"I know what you mean," Lily said laughing. "Black has to grow another ten feet to fit his."

Once they had got their trunks into an empty compartment, they sat down and waited for the train to pull out of the station, thus beginning their seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Thirty minutes after the train had left the station; the door to their compartment was flung open. A boy about their age with messy black hair fell inside, landing on the floor with a thud, rigid as a plank.

"You'd better sleep with one eye open, Snivellus!" they heard another boy's voice shout outside in the corridor.

Lindsey sighed and rolled her eyes in annoyance as she recognised the boy on the floor as James Potter hit with a full Body-Bind. She couldn't help but smirk at his predicament and noticed that Lily automatically fixed her hair.

"You okay?" It was Remus Lupin that came into the compartment looking haggard as usual and a bit worried as he looked his friend over.

"That was completely uncalled for," Sirius Black muttered as he entered after Lupin. "You okay, Prongs? I managed to hit the snivelling grease ball with a Twitchy Ears Hex."

Lupin rolled his eyes at Black's comment as he released James from the Body-Bind and Peter Pettigrew entered as well.

"Well, if it isn't Lily Evans and Lindsey Bloodsworth," Black said sitting down beside Lindsey. Her body tensed at his intrusion. "The prettiest witches ever to have attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Seems like someone kissed the Blarney stone this summer," Lily said blushing slightly as Potter sat down beside her with a dorky smile. Lupin sat down beside Black and Pettigrew next to Potter.

"More like eat it," Lindsey muttered and moved closer to the window so she wouldn't be sitting so near Black.

"The "what" stone?" Black asked confused.

"You okay, Lupin?" Lily asked.

"I'm fine," Lupin answered and all the boys tensed. Lindsey thought Lupin looked anything but fine, his skin was pallid and he had a half-healed cut across his left cheekbone. She even thought she could detect some grey hairs.

"He's fine," drawled Black. "He just had a little run in with a mean-spirited pixie."

This time Potter rolled his eyes in annoyance, though he also looked relieved.

"Would you boys mind leaving?" she asked.

"What's the matter, Bloodsworth?" Potter asked ruffling his hair. Lindsey thought it resembled those brushes chimney sweeps used to clean chimneys. "Got ants in your pants or what?"

"Maybe you should leave," Lily said urgently although she seemed averse to the idea.

"There is no hurry," Black said toeing off his shoes then cracking his toes which sent shivers down Lindsey's spine. Even his friends looked a bit unnerved. "We have a long trip ahead of us so we might as well enjoy it."

Lindsey took to staring out the window as the train inched closer and closer to Hogwarts. All the while she considered pouring undiluted bubotuber pus into Black's aftershave, if he indeed used that.

* * *

"Were we ever that young?" James said to his friends while looking over at a group of first year students that looked wide-eyed around the Gryffindor common room.

"What do you mean 'were'?" Sirius asked. "The only one growing old here is Moony. Seriously speaking, Remus, you're starting to look a bit grey."

"Well, I'm friends with you lot," Remus said sourly but they could hear the affection behind the words.

"Does anyone know what's up with Bloodsworth?" Peter asked.

"That time of the month, perhaps," Sirius suggested offhandedly.

"The way she was staring into her pumpkin juice at the sorting ceremony I'm surprised it didn't churl," James said. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen her smile."

"Sure you have," Sirius said, "remember that time in, no wait, it was when, no...oh I remember now, third year in Charms, we were doing the cheering charm."

"I believe that is the keyword right there, Padfoot, cheering charm," James said.

"We haven't seen her smile," Sirius said and sank down in a chair. "Seven years and no smile."

"Maybe she smiles when we aren't around?" suggested Peter.

"True," Remus said, "just because we haven't seen her smile doesn't mean she never has."

"What do we know about her, anyway," Peter said, "besides that she is best friends with Evans?"

"Her parents are Muggles." James said. "Librarians, according to Lily."

"She's good with Charms," Peter pointed out.

"Not bad at Transfiguration either," Remus said. "She seems to have a bit of an Inner Eye too, since she got kicked out of Divination when she predicted the teacher would drop a crystal ball on a student's foot and then five minutes later it actually happened."

"Yeah, but the Divination teacher is an idiot," James said, "if that old bat really has an Inner Eye it is as blind as her normal eyes. Besides, there are Muggles who have the ability to see the future."

"Really?" Peter said in awe.

"Yeah, there was this guy called Nostradamus in France during the sixteenth century that was pretty good," James said.

"How did you know that?" Remus asked, obviously surprised over the fact James would know _anything_ about Muggle history.

"Lily told me," he said with a shrug.

"That's it," Sirius said slamming his hand in the arm of the chair shocking his friends, "I'm going to make Lindsey Bloodsworth smile before we take our N.E.W.T.s." James, Remus and Peter burst into hysterical laughter and Sirius looked affronted. "You don't think I can do it?"

"You're a good wizard, Padfoot," James managed between gales of laughter, "but not even you can perform miracles."

"I'm going to make you eat your words, Prongs," Sirius said. "As I said, before we take our N.E.W.T.s I will have made her smile, without the use of magic."

"Two galleons says he'll do it," Peter said placing two gold galleons on the table.

"Two galleons says he won't do it," James said adding his two coins.

"Two galleons says she'll kill him before we take our N.E.W.T.s," Remus said adding another two coins to the pile. Sirius stared in utter dismay at the stack of golden coins lying on the table.

* * *

The Great Hall was filled with students at dinner time and as usually it was noisy. Lindsey was looking down at her plate trying to ignore the sounds of students laughing and talking. It had nothing to do with her; nothing in this world had anything to do with her. Her parents where Muggles so she couldn't understand why she wasn't.

Why couldn't she have been normal?

She had liked her old school; she had friends there and the teachers where nice and normal. She wished she were still there. Initially, she liked the idea of being a witch, and had really enjoyed coming to Hogwarts, but after the novelty wore off, it wasn't fun any longer. The only thing she was really good at was Charms and Transfiguration. Divination too, before she was kicked out.

"I think Black likes you," Lily said suddenly causing Lindsey to choke on her pumpkin juice.

"What? You got to be kidding?" she gasped.

"No," Lily said, "he was acting all nice to you in Potions, well, until you shut him up that is."

"I really don't think jokes like '_how many wizards does it take to screw in a light bulb_' is funny," Lindsey said, "I don't even think Black knows what a light bulb is."

"Well, they are rather clueless about certain things," Lily agreed, "but you could at least be a bit nicer, you don't wish to alienate the entire school, do you?"

"I've lost my appetite," Lindsey said as she stood. Suddenly she felt an odd sensation in her ears as Lily gasped in horror.

* * *

The commotion slowly faded after Lindsey had been taken to the hospital wing to remove the leeks that had sprouted from each ear.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid," Sirius repeated as he kept banging his head against the table. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid."

"That's quite enough," Remus said grabbing hold of the other boy's hair, "there is no need to damage the table."

"How could I? How could I miss?" Sirius moaned weakly into the tabletop.

"You wouldn't have missed hadn't Bloodsworth got in the way," James pointed out. "And coincidentally, by the looks of it she won't be smiling for a long time."

"Not helping," Sirius hissed.

"Evans is back," Peter said and Sirius got to his feet.

"How are..." The rest was cut off by slap that echoed throughout the hall.

"How could you?" she screamed at him furiously.

"It wasn't supposed to hit her," he said apologetically while rubbing his stinging cheek.

"Like that makes it all better," she snapped at him, "she had leeks growing out of her ears. Leeks!"

"Would it have made any difference if it had been cabbage?" James asked and Lily turned to look at him with her wand drawn.

"Wanna find out?" she asked him and he ducked behind the table.

"Well, well," a voice said behind them. They looked around and saw Snape standing there. "Trouble in Paradise?"

"Get lost, Snape, this doesn't concern you," Remus said warningly.

"I must say, Black, that hex really did wonders for Bloodsworth," Snape said ignoring the warning, "I've never seen her look prettier."

Sirius whipped out his wand and aimed at Snape;

"_Densaugeo_," Sirius yelled. The effect was immediate as Snape's teeth began to grow. "Now your teeth match your nose."

Snape glared at him and hurried out of the Great Hall.

"That'll teach him not to speak ill about people," Peter said.

"I don't like the look of this," Remus said getting up from his seat to walk towards the door.

"Where are you going?" James called after him. Without turning or stopping Remus pointed towards the ceiling. They all looked up to see that it was getting darker. Night was approaching.

"Wait up," James called as he, Peter and Sirius hurried after their friend, leaving behind a thoroughly bewildered Lily staring after them.

Sirius looked back at the castle as they waited for the moon to rise so they could transform. He could see the lights were on in the hospital wing. James joined him.

"She'll get over it," he said reassuringly.

"I don't think she will," Sirius said, "I think I should sleep with one eye open."

"Lily might be able to persuade her not to use any deadly hexes on you," James said.

"I deserve the Cruciatus Curse," he said.

"No, you don't," James said, "you're not worth it."

Sirius caught James in a headlock and they tumbled to the ground in a heap laughing.

"Come on guys, it's time," Peter called catching their attention and they walked to an area just outside of the Whomping Willow's reach. Peter transformed into a rat and sneaked beneath the branches of the willow and pressed the knot to immobilize it. Sirius and James  
crawled into the passageway that would take them to the Shrieking Shack.

Occupied with their own little mischief they didn't notice the Snowy owl leaving the Owlery.

* * *

In the weeks that followed, Sirius tried in vain to apologise to Bloodsworth, but she seemed determined not to allow him to get near her. After several Silencing Charms, various hexes, including being transformed into a squealing piglet - twice - he gave up trying to apologise and set about finding another way of getting her to smile.

"You're becoming obsessed," James said placing his hands over the pages in the book Sirius was reading.

"It's not pretty."

"I'm not obsessed," Sirius said removing James' hand from the pages.

"Yes you are," James said. "Honestly, Sirius, at first it was kind of fun, but now its getting creepy. All the girls are starting to fear you, not to mention the fact that all this running after Bloodsworth has made you look like a horny old man."

"I know what I'm doing," Sirius said impatiently.

"I don't think you do," James said as he looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps. "Evans."

"What's wrong with you?" Lily asked Sirius. "You some kind of stalker? Lindsey is afraid to be in the same room with you!"

"I was only trying to apologise for what happened in the Great Hall," Sirius said.

"Apologise?" Lily's voice went up a notch. "Last time I checked apologising didn't involve chasing someone through the castle."

"She wouldn't let me talk to her," he said holding out his hand.

"At first I thought you liked her," Lily said, "but now I'm starting to wonder if you are really right in the head."

"He is trying to get her to smile," James said, causing Lily to look at him.

"What?" she asked completely confounded. "Why?"

"Because we've never seen her smile and he wanted her to," James explained.

Lily looked between the two of them as though seeing them for the first time, then she sighed and pinched the ridge of her nose.

"I really shouldn't tell you this but it seems like I must," she said leaning forward. "What I'm about to tell you stays between us, okay?"

They nodded.

"Lindsey's mother died this summer," she said. "She took it pretty hard as did her father, so bad that he had to be hospitalised."

"Oh no," James said, "poor Lindsey."

Sirius said nothing as he closed his book and got up from where he had been sitting. James opened his mouth to say something when his friend walked past him but the closed off expression on Sirius face made him change his mind. Both Remus and Peter entered as Sirius left and they both looked at James for an explanation of their friend's odd behaviour.

"He found out something about Bloodsworth," he said. They nodded in understanding and let the rest be unsaid.

"Will this make him stop?" Lily said. "I would love nothing more than to see Lindsey smile again, but he is going about it the wrong way."

"I doubt it will make him stop," James said, "but I can't say whether he will continue as he has done or change tactics."

Lily walked over to the window and looked out at the grounds as James came up behind her.

"What a big dog," Lily said pointing to where a big bear-like dog was running toward the Forbidden Forest. James nearly had a heart attack as he recognised his friend's Animagus form. "Hope he won't get hurt inside the forest."

"He looks strong enough to be able to handle himself," James said wondering if he should go out and chase after Sirius before deciding against it. Seeing a stag running over the grounds in broad daylight might raise some uncomfortable questions.

"I guess you are right," she said.

"You planning on visiting Hogsmede next week?" he asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"I was wondering if we maybe could do something fun together?" he asked her, convinced that she would flat out refuse.

"Sure," she said, "I would love too."

James felt like fainting from happiness.

* * *

Sirius sat in a tree in the Forbidden Forest pondering the information Lily had disclosed. No wonder Bloodsworth didn't smile; he couldn't even begin to understand how it would feel to lose a parent. He knew that if his own parents had the decency to die he would be over the moon, but he suspected that Bloodsworth really loved her parents.

He wondered why he wanted her to smile so badly, she wasn't that pretty, the only real reason he had taken any notice of her was because she was friends with Evans, and James wanted to be _really_ good friends with Evans.

She was rather plump without being fat and it gave her face a roundness that was actually kind of appealing. He bet her cheeks would dimple if is she smiled; she looked like that kind of person.

He shook his head. When had he started thinking like this and why? There were prettier girls at Hogwarts. Nicer too. Bloodsworth was a plain girl, with ash-blonde hair she wore in one long braid that reached to her waist. She had grey eyes that reminded him of storm clouds, but they seemed rather dead unless she was angry.

"Maybe I should lay off her," he said quietly to himself, "for awhile at least."

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To Be Continued…**


	2. Chapter Two

**Harry Potter or any other characters associated with the book are the sole property of J. K. Rowling. Any original character created solely for this story belongs to me, Little C.**

**Reviews, comments and even flames are welcome. A big thank you to my beta reader Dorothy.** **Chapters 1 to 5 have been through a slight revision to eliminate typos and such.**

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The Things We Never Did or Said, Chapter Two

Christmas break was quickly approaching when Sirius thought it would be all right to continue his personal quest of getting a smile from Bloodsworth.

"I thought you had given up on that?" James said when Sirius told him, Remus and Peter as they left the Gryffindor common room.

"No, I took a step back," Sirius said, "but now I'm back in the game."

"I don't understand you," Remus said, "do you like Bloodsworth?"

"No," Sirius answered, "I just want to make her smile. Besides, she's more Peter's type than mine."

"She not my type," Peter objected, "she looks like a chipmunk."

"Watch your mouth, Wormtail," Sirius said hotly, "or I might accidentally step on you next full moon."

"Next full moon falls during the weekend of Christmas break," Remus said, earning disappointed sighs from the others.

They continued to the Great Hall, and as they arrived, they saw a small group of people had gathered outside in the Entrance Hall, right below where someone had put a charmed sprig of mistletoe a few days ago. At first people deliberately walked beneath it to become trapped in its magic so someone would have to kiss them, but that soon grew old, so now people were avoiding walking beneath it. Evidently someone had been a little careless and stepped under the sprig.

To their surprise it was Bloodsworth, and from the looks of it she didn't look like she wanted to be kissed. Even though two boys, a sixth year Hufflepuff and a seventh year Ravenclaw seemed more than willing to aid a damsel in distress, a more unwilling damsel had yet to be seen.

"One might think she is being difficult on purpose," James said as they stood and watched the debacle unfold.

"She looks angry," Remus said, "this can't end well."

* * *

Lindsey wished they would all just go away and leave her alone. She didn't care that she had to be kissed to be released from the stupid charmed mistletoe; she just wanted to be alone. She wanted to scream at them to leave her alone but she was too angry to get the words out.

A shiver ran down her spine as the crowd silenced somewhat. She looked up in time to see Sirius coming through the crowd. Had she been able, she would have bolted at that moment. There was something about the way he looked at her that she didn't like. He looked very much like a cat stalking a mouse, and she had the uncomfortable feeling that she was the mouse.

"Come here often?" he asked her casually as he stopped in front of her.

"Don't you dare!" she hissed. He just smiled, tilted her head a bit, and kissed her.

It wasn't a little peck or chaste brushing of lips, but a real kiss. His mouth pressed against hers in a way she never imagined would be pleasant. The thought that she could find the sensation pleasant made her recoil from him, and she realised she was free from the charmed mistletoe.

Looking at Sirius, she expected to see a smug grin on his face, but there was none. Instead there was an odd expression she couldn't describe as he looked at her. He lifted his hand to his face and tentatively touched his lips.

She felt something warm against her cheek which she angrily brushed away and was surprised when her fingers came away wet. Appalled, she realised she was crying. Crying! In front of all these people! She felt her anger boiling inside as she drew her wand and pointed it at Sirius, causing him to take a step backward.

"Lindsey," he said pleadingly. She didn't listen, but instead searched her mind for a Hex to cast. Something horrible, but non-lethal. Unable to think of something, she lowered her wand slightly. Sirius made a move to grab it, but Lindsey was quicker. "_Tarantallegra_!" she shouted before making a mad dash for the gate then out onto the winter-covered grounds.

* * *

"You're dumber than a troll!" Lily screamed at Sirius looking dead tired and sitting with his feet in a bucket of hot water. It had taken two hours before anyone had released him from Lindsey's Hex, and that was only because they grew tired of him doing quicksteps through the castle corridors.

"You tell him, Evans," James said taking a bite of an apple.

"Shut up!" both Lily and Sirius shouted.

"Why did you kiss her?" Lily screamed.

"Should I have let her stay there all day?" Sirius asked.

"It's not up to you to decide that," she raved, "did it ever even occur to you that she might not want to be kissed?"

"Then she would have been standing there all day," Sirius objected yet again.

"Then you should have let her," Lily shouted, "sooner or later she would have came to her senses and allowed herself to be kissed by one of those that had offered."

"Offered?" James said with a snort. "They were practically begging to kiss her. Her! Of all people!"

"Shut up!" Both Lily and Sirius shouted at him again.

"I was only referring to her personality," James defended himself upon seeing the looks he got from Remus and Peter.

"I thought you had given up on this insane idea to get her to smile," Lily said, "why did you suddenly start again?"

"Because I want to see her smile," Sirius said simply. "Is that too much to ask?"

"I guess I have no choice," she said and they looked questioningly at her. "Remember what I said about her father earlier this year?" Sirius nodded. "She got an owl from her uncle last week informing her that her father's condition is deteriorating."

Sirius sighed heavily and buried his face in his hands.

"Really?" James asked and Lily nodded. "You're not just saying that?"

"No," Lily said with a sigh, "I wish it wasn't true, but it is."

"You better give up, Padfoot," James said. "There is no way you are going to get her to smile now."

"If he should try, I doubt it would be an ordinary Hex she'd put on him this time," Remus said with a yawn. "She looked fit to kill down there."

"Now if you'll excuse me," Lily said, "I have some damage control to take care of."

Before she walked out she turned and pointed her wand at the bucket of warm water Sirius had his feet in and it came to an instant boil.

"Hot! Ow! Hot! Ow! Hot!" she heard Sirius shout franticly as she left Gryffindors common room.

* * *

James pointed his wand at the water which abruptly stopped boiling with a hiss. As the steam cleared, they could see that the water had now turned into a solid block of ice, trapping Sirius feet at an odd angle.

"Thanks Prongs," Sirius sighed in relief. James smiled brightly.

"I'm tired," James said, putting his wand back in his robe. "I think I'll turn in."

"Me too," said Peter with a huge yawn. He turned to head towards the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

"Same here," said Remus. As he walked past Sirius, he reached inside his robe to confiscate his wand. "You won't be needing this anymore tonight."

Sirius watched them leave, a look of incredulity written all over his face.

"Guys?" he called after them. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Do you think Lily will manage to pacify Lindsey?" James asked Remus as they walked up the stairs, blatantly ignoring Sirius' increasingly desperate pleas.

"I certainly do hope so," Remus said.

"Come on guys, this isn't funny," they heard Sirius calling from downstairs. "Bloody turncoats!"

"Maybe we should thaw that bucket his feet are in," Remus said a bit uncertain.

"It can wait until the morning," James said reassuringly, "he will be fine, a little cold perhaps, but fine."

They heard thumping noises from downstairs and then a large crashing sound.

"Bullocks!" they heard Sirius state quite angrily.

"See," said James, "nothing to worry about!"

And with that, they entered the dormitory and got ready for bed.

* * *

Lily found Lindsey sitting in Hagrid's garden looking worse for wear. Tears had frozen to her lashes, and it was obvious she had suffered a nosebleed. Blood was smeared all over her face and robe.

Hagrid had obviously been out to talk to her seemingly without success, since she was draped in a large plaid blanket the size of a king-sized bedspread and looking miserable. Lily wasn't at all surprised; despite the giant man's kind demeanour, Lindsey was terrified of him.

"Did you have a vision?" Lily asked as she melted a handful of snow in her hand and proceeded to wipe away the blood from her friend's face.

"No," Lindsey said shaking her head, "it just started to bleed. I was so angry."

"You shouldn't mind anything Sirius does," Lily said, "he's just a big wanker."

"I know," Lindsey said, "but for six years he has acted as if I don't exist and then suddenly he's everywhere. It's creepy."

Lily fought the urge to tell her the truth, that all Sirius wanted from her was a smile, but she didn't dare.

If Lily were going to tell Lindsey the truth, she should have done so in the very beginning. As it was, she was afraid Lindsey might seriously kill Sirius, and get in a lot of trouble. At this moment, Lindsey did not need to have to deal with any additional stress.

No, it was better to keep her mouth shut and let it be, with a little luck she had managed to discourage Sirius, but when that boy set his mind to something, he saw it through to the end. She could only hope he would practise restraint from here on out.

"Are you going home for Christmas?" Lily asked.

"No," Lindsey answered, "I'm staying here. My uncle is having his wife's family over, so they don't have room for me and I don't want to go home to an empty house."

"You're welcome to spend Christmas with us," she said. "I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind."

"I'll be fine here," she said, "at least I won't have to put up with Sirius during the holiday."

"True," Lily said. "It's getting colder; we should get back to the castle."

Lindsey nodded and folded the large blanket into a bundle and walked over to Hagrid's hut and knocked on the door. The big man opened the door.

"Yes?" Hagrid inquired when he saw her standing there.

"Thanks for the blanket," Lindsey said with a small voice.

"Yer welcome," he said with a smile as he took the blanket. She managed a short nod before bolting from the doorstep towards the castle. Lily saw Hagrid smile before she followed her friend.

Coming into the Gryffindor common room, they discovered Sirius lying on the floor near the fireplace holding his ice-encased feet up towards the fire. Lily quickly suppressed a chuckle. Lindsey, on the other hand, strode purposefully towards the stairs to the girls dormitory not even acknowledging Sirius' presence.

"Need a hand?" Lily asked walking over to Sirius.

"Nah," Sirius said flippantly, "I've got things covered."

Lily looked at him, his lips blue and trembling, checks flushed and sweating from the heat of the fire combined with the strain of holding his legs up in what must have been an uncomfortable position. Water dripped slowly but steadily from the ice and she could tell that he was in for a long night.

"You sure you don't need anything?" she asked again.

"I'm fine," he said shivering, "you go to bed."

"Okay," she said leaving him by the fire. She'd made it halfway up the stairs before she heard him calling;

"Oi, Evans! I was only joking! Help!"

She ignored his plea and walked into the dormitory where she saw that Lindsey had already gone to bed. As she got ready for bed she heard small noises coming from Lindsey's bed.

"You okay, Lindsey?" she asked but got no reply. Climbing into bed, she noticed the sounds from Lindsey's side of the room had stopped. Falling asleep, she forgot all about it.

Lily didn't see Sirius at all the following day. Nor did she see James, Remus or Peter. She was sure he was alright; otherwise the whole school would have known by know. She had been outside, enjoying the sunny day when she spotted Lindsey coming down from the West Tower. Judging by the feathers on her robes she had been to the Owlery.

"I thought I saw you," she said, joining her friend on the stairs to the common room. "You might want to be more careful, or else you'll be seen."

"They'll just think I was near someone who got mail," Lindsey said.

Lily agreed. It was most fortunate for Lindsey that her Animagus form was that of a Snowy Owl - though not a common bird in Britain it was common enough among wizards. She hadn't been thrilled when Lindsey told her she wanted to become an Animagus. It was quite difficult to master, and had indeed proven to be difficult. Lindsey's first attempt had been successful, and had been done in their sixth year just one week before summer break. Her first attempt at flying was less successful and had ended with a broken arm.

Lily was pretty sure there were several other students that had the ability to transform into an animal at will since Lindsey had told her that sometimes books on the subject seemed to be missing from the library.

They entered the Gryffindor common room only to find it virtually empty.

"Where is everybody?" Lily wondered as they sat down by the fire.

"Hospital wing," Lindsey said, "Sirius is there."

"How did you know?" Lily asked.

"I flew by it," Lindsey answered.

"Did he look badly hurt?" Lily asked a bit worried.

"Not really," Lindsey said, "his feet were bandaged but otherwise he looked fine. Besides, with all those girls fawning over him, why wouldn't he be?"

"I guess so," Lindsey said.

They both fell silent watching the fire burn.

"What do you think of Potter?" Lily asked after awhile.

"As little as possible," Lindsey answered, "why do you ask?"

"I kind of like him," she said. "I know I haven't said anything but you might have noticed that we have sort of been dating."

Lindsey turned and looked at her with an amused expression and was about to say something when she was interrupted by James entering the room, helping a limping Sirius. They were followed by Remus and Peter.

James dumped Sirius in one of the chairs.

"Take it easy," Sirius complained, "I'm injured, remember?"

"Second degree burns and frostbite," Remus said, "isn't much in the way of injuries."

"Whatever," Sirius said, "but it hurts and I can't go home over Christmas because technically I'm not supposed to move around much."

Lily saw from the corner of her eye that Lindsey had got up from her seat, her face a mask of indifference as she left the room.

"She looked happy," Peter said as soon as Lindsey had left.

"Thrilled," Remus agreed.

"Assuming we'll be able to find all of the itty bitty pieces that might be left of you once we return from Christmas break," James said as he looked at Sirius. "How would you like your funeral?"

Sirius glowered at him menacingly.

"I doubt she'd actually kill him," Lily said. "Maim, yes. Kill, no."

"Seems like those galleons are mine," Remus commented and Lily turned to him.

"You've made a bet out of this idiocy?" she asked, her voice rising with every word.

"We did but Sirius didn't." James hurried to say, indicating himself, Remus and Peter.

"As if that makes it better!" Lily fumed. "You turned this into a bet. A game! I should Hex you all into toads this very minute! It's bad enough that Sirius is making a complete fool of himself by trying to get Lindsey to smile when her world is practically falling apart around her. There are just no words to describe how low this has come."

"Wait! We were merely betting on whether the fool would succeed or not," Remus countered. "It really has nothing to do with Lindsey."

"You're all fools," Lily said derisively, glaring at them before leaving the common room.

**

* * *

To Be Continued…**


	3. Chapter Three

**Harry Potter or any other characters associated with the book are the sole property of J. K. Rowling. Any original character created solely for this story belongs to me, Little C.**

**Reviews, comments and even flames are welcome. A big thank you to my beta reader Dorothy.** **Chapters 1 to 5 have been through a slight revision to eliminate typos and such.**

**

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**

The Things We Never Did or Said, Chapter Three

Lily watched the snow-covered landscape pass her window as the train headed toward King's Cross and their Christmas break.

"Feels a bit funny, don't you think?" Remus suddenly said. "Leaving those two all alone like that."

"They're not alone," Lily replied. "There are several others that didn't go home as well."

"Yeah," James said, "like Snivellus."

"We'll have to scrape what's left of them off the walls when we get back," Remus said shaking his head.

"Don't worry about it, they'll be fine," Lily said crossing her fingers behind her back. They fell silent, and Lily was just dozing off when James suddenly pulled a mirror out of his cloak.

"What is it, Sirius?" he said looking into the glass. For a moment, Lily thought he'd gone crazy, but then she heard Sirius' voice loud and clear.

"I need help!"

"With what?"

"Lindsey is giving me the cold shoulder," Sirius' voice was heard coming from the mirror. "I need something to soften her up."

"Lay off her," Remus suggested.

"Have fun howling at the moon this weekend, Moony," Sirius said, causing Remus' cheeks to blush a bright pink.

"Give her something she likes," James suggested.

"I don't know what she likes," Sirius admitted, embarrassed.

"Ask her."

"I told you she wasn't speaking to me," Sirius said crossly.

"Why doesn't that surprise me," Lily muttered.

"Lily, you're her friend." Sirius stated. James turned the mirror, and Lily soon found herself peering at Sirius' face. "Do you know what she likes?"

"She likes flowers, especially daisies," she said. "Orange daisies."

"Flowers?" Sirius said thoughtfully. "I can work with that."

"Good!" James said, turning the mirror back to himself. "Because from here on you're on your own."

"Just one thing," Sirius said hesitantly. "What do daisies look like?"

"Merry Christmas, Padfoot," James said and put away the mirror.

"He's so dead," Remus said, and as much as Lily hated it, she had to agree. Unless Lindsey had a major change of heart or something short of a miracle happened, there wouldn't be enough of Sirius left to fill a thimble when they came back.

* * *

Sirius took a deep breath as he entered the common room and saw Lindsey sitting at the fire reading a copy of _The Daily Prophet_. Nervously he clutched the bouquet of orange daisies he had in his hand and tried to navigate to her chair without being noticed. It was rather easy to achieve since she always ignored him. When he reached the side of her chair, he dropped the bouquet in her lap. Surprised, she looked up into his smiling face.

"Merry Christmas!" he said jovially.

Abruptly she got out of the chair and threw the flowers into the fire where they burst into flames. Turning on her heel, she made towards the exit.

"Hey!" Sirius called after her. "I went through a lot of trouble getting those."

"Really," she said waving her wand. The entire room was instantly covered in daisies. "Lots of trouble."

"Considering the fact that I didn't know what daisies looked like, I had to look it up," he said feeling hurt by her indifference. "I did go to a lot of trouble! Since everything conjured by magic eventually disappears, I made arrangements for Lily to send me a real bouquet."

Sirius saw something akin to regret pass swiftly over her face but it was gone so quickly he couldn't be sure it had been there in the first place.

"Then I'm sorry Lily wasted her money and you wasted your time," she retorted. She was just about to leave when Professor McGonagall entered the room.

"This just came for you, Bloodsworth," she said handing her a letter, "from your Uncle."

Sirius watched curiously as a white-faced Lindsey accepted the letter and opened it as Professor McGonagall left. Her hands were shaking before she even opened the envelope. As she read the note, her face went from white to ashen.

Sirius was about to say something when the letter fell from her hands and she stood there, her eyes had a distant look to them as she stared blankly ahead. Stunned, he saw tears streaming down her face and a great sob was torn from her as she sank to her knees sobbing.

He hurried to sit beside her, pulling her into an embrace. Oddly enough, she allowed it as she clung to him crying like there was no tomorrow. He cast a glance at the letter that was on the floor and read:

_Dear Lindsey_

_I hope this letter finds you in good health. I'm truly sorry you couldn't spend Christmas  
__with us this year but know that you're always welcomed in our house.  
Polly and the kids send their love, and we all wish you a Merry Christmas._

_I really wish I didn't have to tell you this, love, but there is no easy way to say it.  
Your father passed away last night. He died in his sleep, and I doubt he suffered..._

The letter continued but Sirius found he couldn't stomach it. He felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over him. Her father has passed away. No wonder she was so upset. No wonder she allowed him to hold her, she didn't care who it was she was clinging to. To her he was just a shoulder to cry on, so to speak.

He couldn't even begin to fathom what she was feeling right now and if her current state was anything to go by, he didn't want to, ever. He felt so useless, a feeling he hadn't felt often until now. He resigned to hold her as she grieved.

He had no idea how long he sat there on the floor holding her, but by the time she had grown quiet it was dark outside. No one had bothered them though they had been sitting in the middle of the floor; Lindsey's heartbroken sobs were explanation enough.

* * *

He winced as he stretched his legs. They had become numb awhile back, and it hurt like hell to get the circulation going again. The ache in his feet returned with the blood flow, and he remembered that Madam Pomfrey had told him to avoid walking. He had obeyed except for when he searched for flowers. Lucky for him he remembered that flowers didn't grow in winter before he made a complete fool of himself, and was grateful Muggles had flower shops.

Lindsey seemed to have cried herself to sleep and had left him in a dilemma. He couldn't carry her up to the girl's dorm, and taking her to the boy's to spend the night was a very bad idea. This left him with just one solution. He carried her to the sofa and gently set her down, then placed his robe over her so she wouldn't be cold.

He sat in the chair and watched her as she slept. Her eyes were swollen from all the crying, and tears that pooled at the corner of each eye glittered in the firelight. Her face seemed to have lost some of the plumpness. He took in the shape of her mouth, the fullness of her lips, and the subtle beginnings of worry lines between her eyebrows. She had dark smudges under her eyes. He frowned as he continued to look at her. It was almost as if her face were becoming clearer, like a veil was lifted from his eyes. He knew what she looked like, and the experience was odd; he had known her for seven years.

"Am I now seeing you for the first time?" he asked softly.

* * *

"So what did you think?" Lily asked as she and James walked down the street where she lived.

"About what?" he asked, deep in thought.

"About the movie," she said with a smile.

"It was good," James said, "I especially liked those metallic wands."

Lily hid a smile behind her hand at James' comment and decided not to ask him anymore questions about the movie. She knew he was worried about Sirius and there was no denying that she was too. She was concerned for Lindsey as well. The recent changes in her personality, due to the death of her mother, and her father's illness did not bode well. Normally Lindsey was rather cheerful; laughing and smiling came easy for her, but she didn't take being made fun of lightly, and Sirius' recent behaviour could easily be interpreted as that.

Sirius had contacted her earlier today about orange daisies and she had complied, thinking it would be a nice gesture and would probably convince Lindsey not to Hex him the moment she saw him.

As they arrived at Lily's house her mother met them in the hallway with a sad look on her face.

"What's the matter?" Lily asked. "Did Petunia invite her boyfriend to Christmas dinner?"

"No, dear," her mother answered with a hint of a smile. No one in the family seemed to like her sister's boyfriend. He was a big, boorish man with no sense of humour and the only reason they tolerated him was because Petunia seemed to like him. Every time Lily saw them together the phrase 'birds of a feather, flock together' flittered through her mind.

"Then why the long face?" she asked.

"I happened to run into Polly Bloodsworth earlier today," her mother said and Lily felt the cold dread of bad news in the air. "She told me that Lindsey's father passed away."

"Oh no," she said sitting down on the stairs. "Poor Lindsey!"

"I hope Padfoot won't try anything stupid," James said quietly.

"Poor Hogwarts," Lily said, and for the first time truly doubted everything would work out fine.

* * *

Sirius was gently roused by the warmth of sunlight on his face. Opening his eyes he saw that the sun had risen hours ago. Stretching, he noticed that Lindsey was gone.

He guessed that she had woken up and retreated to the girl's dormitory. Picking up his robe that lay over the arm of the sofa, he pulled it on and decided to go downstairs for breakfast.

He was somewhat surprised to see Lindsey sitting at the table when he entered the Great Hall. He would have thought that the last thing she wanted right now was to be around people, but judging by the ominous look on her face he doubted anyone would go near her. He decided to sit with her.

"Good morning," he greeted cheerfully and she looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy from last night. "Feeling any better?"

"Hardly," she responded, her voice hoarse.

Sirius felt a tingling along his spine, and knew immediately what it meant. Of all the times the bastard could have chosen to interrupt, why now?

"What was all that noise coming from the Gryffindor tower last night?" Snape asked. Sirius clenched his fists. "Did Black try to kiss you again, Bloodsworth?"

"Brilliant, Snape! Once again you've put your keen and penetrating mind to the task and as usual come to the wrong conclusion," Sirius said as he turned to the Slytherin. "Why don't you run along and play with your chemistry set?"

"I don't recall addressing you, Black," Snape responded.

"Go bugger yourself, Snivellus," Sirius said getting up from his seat. "This doesn't concern you."

"You're pathetic," Snape said with a disgusted look. "You're making a fool out of yourself running around after Bloodsworth like a love-sick puppy."

"Shut up, you disgusting grease ball," Lindsey said, her voice loud enough to catch everyone's attention. "Don't you dare address me again, because if you do I'll shove your wand so far down your throat you'll be able to pull it out your arse."

Having said that she stalked out of the Great Hall leaving both Sirius and Snape staring after her.

"That uppity little Mudblood," Snape snarled.

"Dare say that again, Snivellus," Sirius said with a cold voice, "and you'll be eating slugs."

Sirius left Snape glaring daggers after him. As he exited the Great Hall he saw Lindsey standing in the Entrance Hall. He suppressed a burst of laughter as he noticed she had once again been caught beneath the mistletoe. Some other students weren't as considerate as they pointed and sniggered.

"Lindsey," he said coming up to her.

"Don't," she said, "just don't."

Understanding and respecting her wishes, he backed away. But he didn't go far, stopping about ten feet away before squatting down, wincing at the pain in his feet as he prepared for a long wait.

His feet were aching beyond belief but he remained in his crouched position as he had been the past hour or so. Sooner or later Lindsey would come to her senses and say the word, and he would be the one to heed the call.

Sweat was trickling down his face, stinging his eyes, but he remained where he was. All of a sudden he pitched forward and just barely managed to catch himself with his hands. Dark blotches covered his field of vision and he was panting like he had run a mile.

"Sirius," he heard Lindsey say. Looking up at her he saw that she was looking at him, her grey eyes full of sadness and something indescribable. "Please, help me."

Painfully he got to his feet and staggered over to her. He put his hands around her elbows forcing her to place her hands on his upper arms.

"Lindsey," he said, waiting for something but not knowing what.

"Just do it," she said.

He bent forward and pressed his lips to hers, and felt like he was kissing live energy. He had felt the same way the first time he kissed her. Did she mean something to him, or was it just because she was the first girl he ever kissed?

Suddenly she wrenched herself out of his grasp; the Hex was undone. She took several steps back, her face expressionless and her wand in hand. A bolt of fire shot from her wand and hit the mistletoe, turning it into cinder.

Applause broke out all over the Entrance Hall from those that had stopped to watch the scene unfold.

"It got tiresome," she said putting away her wand.

Sirius smiled and felt the tension in his body ease and the world grew black as he succumbed to exhaustion.

* * *

Lily was practically hanging out the window of the horseless carriage as it made its way to Hogwarts. She was anxious to see if it was still standing.

The Christmas break had turned into a nightmare of sleepless nights and fretful days. James, Remus and Peter had all tried to contact Sirius without success and she had tried to contact Lindsey to no avail.

"Lily," James said, "sit down before you fall out, remember you're Head Girl."

"There," she exclaimed and the boys joined her peering out of the windows, "its still standing."

Reaching the castle, they took the steps two at a time as they rushed up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. Once inside, they received the shock of their lives; Lindsey and Sirius where playing Wizard Chess, calm as you please.

"Is it just me or is anyone else feeling as though we missed something important?" Remus asked.

"What I want to know is when the world ended," James said, "because I must have missed it."

"Welcome back," said Sirius, "and please be quiet because I'm about to win."

They approached the players silently and Sirius made his move. It was a good one, because he would now Check Mate Lindsey in two moves.

"Your move," Sirius told her. Lindsey surveyed the board calmly and made her draw.

"Check Mate," she said, cornering his king. Sirius gaped at the pieces.

"I can't believe it," he said in disbelief, "and I was so sure I was going to win."

Lily let out an amused laugh and all the boys turned and looked at her as though she had gone mental. She dried her tears and tried to control herself.

"Lindsey, did you by any chance forget to mention that you where Junior Champion for four consecutive years back in school?"

"It might have slipped my mind," Lindsey said calmly.

Lily started laughing again and this time James, Remus and Peter joined her while Sirius looked incredulously at Lindsey.

"How about another round, my dear?" he asked her.

"Love to," she answered and Sirius set the board for a new game.

**

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To Be Continued…**


	4. Chapter Four

**Harry Potter or any other characters associated with the book are the sole property of J. K. Rowling. Any original character created solely for this story belongs to me, Little C.**

**Reviews, comments and even flames are welcome. A big thank you to my beta reader Dorothy.** **Chapters 1 to 5 have been through a slight revision to eliminate typos and such.**

**

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**

The Things We Never Did or Said, Chapter Four

Lily was towelling herself dry after having taken a bath when both James and Remus burst into the Prefects' bathroom. Hurriedly she wrapped the towel around her to cover her body. She levelled them with a piercing glare which went by unnoticed since they were both staring at her legs.

"How did you know I was here?" she asked them in an attempt to get them look at something other than her bare legs.

"Bristol told us," Remus said shaking off the daze, "we need to talk."

"Isn't Sirius and Peter supposed to be here as well?" she asked tartly, looking at James, wondering if he was going to drool or not.

"Peter is outside," Remus said, "it's Sirius we wish to discuss with you."

"Why?"

"We wondered if you could ask Lindsey if we could perhaps, borrow him from time to time," Remus asked a bit sarcastically and very much whiney. "I mean, he was our friend first."

"What are you? Five?" Lily asked him.

"Don't you think it is strange though," Remus said, "before Christmas break she could hardly stand being in the same room with him and now they talk, play chess and, I'm not sure, but when they came back from their walk yesterday I think they were holding hands."

"And?" Lily asked him.

"Don't you think it's odd?" he asked her.

"Perhaps," she said with a shrug, "but I'm just glad they get along. The whole hexing thing was getting pretty tedious, anyway. And if you want to know what happened, why don't you ask Sirius?"

"We would," Remus said, "but they're always together."

"Not always," she said.

"We did ask him about it," James said still looking at her legs.

"And?"

"He told us to mind our own business," Remus said when James didn't answer. "He is our friend; we don't keep secrets from each other."

Lily looked at them as something dawned on her.

"You're jealous," she said with a smile.

"No, we're not!" James protested and looked up from her legs.

"Don't be ridiculous," Remus said. "Why would we be jealous of Sirius spending time with Lindsey?"

"Because he is spending time with Lindsey," Lily said, "your best friend is, for the first time, spending more time with someone else and you don't know how to handle it."

"Nonsense," Remus said.

"Really," Lily said crossing her arms over her chest, still making sure the towel covered her. "What would you boys be doing if you had Mr. Black with you, hm? Out marauding? Hexing Snape? Tying together someone's shoelaces in the Great Hall?"

Remus and James said nothing but they looked a bit embarrassed, though Remus was a Prefect and James Head Boy, she doubted they kept on the straight and narrow. There were times she had seen them sneak out of the castle and not come back until dawn; she had never said anything about it figuring it wasn't her or anyone else's business. She had the sneaking suspicion that they knew more about the school and its grounds than Mr. Filch, possibly - but unlikely - even more than Dumbledore.

"Prongs, Moony," she heard Peter's squeaky voice say from the door, "Bristol just said Sirius is with Lindsey down by the cliffs."

"Let's go," Remus said, grabbing a hold of James who had gone back to staring at Lily's legs, and hauled him out of the bathroom.

Lily shook her head as they left. Those four were in a class all their own. Well, three of them anyway. The reason little Peter hung out with them was beyond her. Sure, he did seem like the kind that would latch onto the bravest, most admired and smartest people he could find. What amazed her even more was that he was sorted into Gryffindor. The Sorting Hat must have gone temporary insane when sorting Peter.

"And what's up with those nicknames?" she said out loud. "Moony? Prongs? James doesn't have any thorns!"

She shook her head again, if she lived to be a thousand she would never figure out what made those jokers tick, but she had to admit the fact that when they were around there was never a dull moment.

* * *

Sirius saw Lindsey sitting on a rock near the cliff looking out over the lake. It was a fine spring day, albeit chilly with the wind coming in from the north. The sun caught Lindsey's braid making her hair sparkle.

"A bit chilly, don't you think?" he said as he joined her by the cliff.

"Could be worse," she said. She absentmindedly plucked at the strings of the guitar that rested in her lap. An owl had delivered it this morning at breakfast.

"Who sent it?" he asked.

"My Uncle," she answered, "it was my father's."

"Can you play?" he asked and she nodded.

"Would you like to hear something special?"

"Just play whatever comes to mind," he said sitting down on the ground.

Her voice was clear and strong but slightly out of tune, though not by much, and Sirius listened. He clapped his hands as the last chord drifted out across the lake and died out. Lindsey's hand lingered for a moment over the strings.

"That was the first song my father ever taught me," she said as her voice broke. Sirius saw tears glittering at the corners of her eyes and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. A drop of blood fell from her nose.

"You're bleeding!" Sirius said and she looked up at him.

"Your friends will be here soon," she said. "They're angry."

"What?" he asked surprised.

"Want to know a secret?" she asked him as she took a tissue from her pocket and wiped away the blood. Dumbfounded he nodded and she leaned forward and whispered in his ear; "I can see the future."

"Really?" Sirius asked and she nodded.

"Well, I see what will happen five to ten minutes into the future," she said, "so it is more of premonition than an actual prediction."

"So just now you saw my friends coming here?" he asked.

"I saw them here with us," she said, "they were upset about something and then they took you back to the castle. James was practically manhandling you."

"Oh!" Sirius said. He looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps and saw James, Remus and Peter approaching and they didn't look particularly happy.

"So who is the 'bloody turncoat' now?" Remus asked him icily. Sirius laughed sheepishly but didn't answer. "You have to excuse us, but we need to borrow your boyfriend for awhile."

James grabbed hold of Sirius' robes and practically dragged him back towards the castle. He turned around and saw Lindsey still sitting at the cliff waving after them.

* * *

Lily sat beside James in the Great Hall after dinner and looked over to where Lindsey, a sixth year Hufflepuff and two seventh year Ravenclaws were having a very intense argument. For some reason Lindsey had opened up since the Christmas break, becoming more and more like her former self and then some. To put it poetically she would say that Lindsey was blossoming right before her eyes.

"I don't know what you did to her, Sirius," Lily said, "but you sure made her sparkle."

"What?" he said grumpily, clutching his spoon so hard his knuckles whitened. "My mission is to get her to smile, not converse with Irish hobgoblins."

"That would be leprechauns, Sirius," Remus said, "not hobgoblins. And only the Hufflepuff is Irish, I think the other two are from Wales."

"Your point being?" Sirius asked.

"Obviously lost on you," Remus said.

"I'm going to bed," Sirius said getting up from his seat, stalking out of the Great Hall.

"If I didn't know better I would think he has fallen for her," Lily said and they all looked at her.

"Don't be ridiculous," James said, "the only person Sirius loves more than himself, is himself."

"He isn't that narcissistic," Remus objected, "but it's true, Sirius is too full of himself to look at anyone else."

"That's what you think," Lily said.

"That is what we know," James said.

"When the rest of us are old and grey and will have trouble remembering how to levitate a feather across the room he will still be as reckless and adventurous as he is today," Remus said.

"Maybe," Lily said, "but sooner or later people change."

"Not him," Peter said.

"Everybody," Lily said. "And I still think that all this comes from jealousy over the fact that Sirius has been spending more time with Lindsey than with you."

"That's not it at all," Remus said.

"Ever heard of band called The Beatles?" Lily asked. Judging by the bewildered looks on their faces it was clear that they hadn't. "They were a very popular Muggle rock group that was dissolved about seven years ago. The reason they broke up was that they wanted to go their separate ways, but many fans believe that the real reason is because the lead singer meet a woman and that she was the reason for the group dissolving. So you see it is not uncommon for a woman to be the cause of a split."

"But you said it wasn't the reason for the break up," Remus said.

"No, but the fans believed it," Lily said.

"But it wasn't," Remus said again.

"Okay, bad analogy," Lily said frustrated. "My point is that I believe, just like the fans, that the reason you are acting like this is because Sirius is spending time with Lindsey and you have trouble accepting it."

"Then logic dictates that we should be jealous of James as well for spending time with you," he said resolutely. "And we are not."

"But we have known that James has been sweet on her ever since our first year," Peter said and both James and Remus turned and looked at him sternly. "Oops!"

"Really?" Lily asked surprised.

"Yeah," James said a bit sheepishly, his cheeks turning red.

"So you see, Lily," Remus said, getting the discussion back on track, "we are not jealous, if anything, we are confused. Before Christmas break Lindsey could hardly stand being in the same room as him and now they act as though they are the best of friends. You must agree that it is a rather momentous change."

"True," Lily agreed. "Clearly something happened during Christmas break and if they don't feel like telling us what that may be, then we shouldn't bother them."

"Well," Remus said getting up from his seat, "I feel like bothering him so I think I'll go and do just that."

"Right with you," James said. But before he hurried after his friend he bent down and kissed Lily on the cheek. "Sweet dreams."

Lily touched her cheek where he had kissed her and smiled.

"I thought they would never leave," she heard Lindsey's voice say as she sat opposite her at the table.

"Don't want to be around them?" Lily asked.

"I shouldn't," Lindsey said, her eyes a bit distant.

"Visions?" Lily asked.

"Two," Lindsey said, "the first hit me when I talked to Sirius down at the cliff. The other as I prepared to head back to the castle an hour later."

"What were they about?" Lily asked.

"I'm not sure," Lindsey said, "the first was Sirius being dragged back to the castle by James and the other was of Lupin bent over what looked like star charts. Something will happen tonight, something that we should stay out of."

"Something important?" Lily asked.

"To them anyway," Lindsey said with a nod. "I was going to take a walk, would you like to join me?"

"Sure," Lily said. They both got up from their seats.

"That is one crooked spoon," Lindsey said. Lily looked down on the table and saw the spoon Sirius had been holding; it was bent in the middle and resembled a 'u'. For a split second she wanted to dash up to the dormitory and stop James and Lupin from confronting Sirius, but Lindsey's words where clear in her mind and she followed her friend outside instead.

* * *

Coming into the Gryffindor common room James noticed an announcement on the bulletin board.

"They have announced which week we will take our N.E.W.T.s," James said.

Lupin and Peter joined him.

"Seems like we have to put the marauding on the back burner and start cramming," he said and walked over to the stairs with Peter on his heels. "You coming, Moony?"

"In a minute," Lupin said still looking at the announcement, chewing nervously on his bottom lip.

When James came up to the dormitory he spotted Sirius sitting on his bed while it was levitating an inch above the floor.

"Having fun?" he asked his friend.

"Very," Sirius said.

"About Bloodsworth," James said.

"What about her?" Sirius asked.

"What are your intentions towards her?" James asked. Sirius' bed dropped to the floor with a thud and Sirius gave him an odd look.

"My intentions?" Sirius asked disbelieving. "Who are you? Her father?"

"Do you love her?" James asked him, thinking that candour might be the only way of getting some truthful answers.

"I don't," Sirius said candidly. James caught Sirius' gaze and held it. Through the years James had learned the telltale signs when Sirius was lying but none of them were present. Sirius was telling the truth. "But I would be lying if I said I felt nothing."

"Care to elaborate?"

"I wanted her to smile," Sirius said, "and along the way I noticed her."

"You noticed her seven years ago," James said, "you turned her hair neon pink in our second year. She is Lily's friend."

"I don't want to make her the punchline of a joke," Sirius said with an annoyed tone of voice. "I want to make her happy, deliriously happy, as happy as one can possibly be for the rest of her life."

James looked at Sirius with his jaw on the floor; he couldn't believe what his friend was telling him. What they had tried to dispute down in the Great Hall was actually what was happening.

"You are falling for her," he said, "I can't believe it."

"It isn't love," Sirius said getting off the bed, "not yet, anyway."

"Will you tell her?" James asked.

"Only time will tell," Sirius said with a wistful smile.

"James, Sirius," Peter voice called from the door, "we have a little problem."

Surprised, they followed Peter downstairs and saw Lupin sitting at the floor with star charts spread out. He was hunched over with his arms wrapped around himself, his shoulders were shaking as if he was laughing but they had a feeling he wasn't.

"Moony," James said carefully and sat down beside him. "What's wrong?"

"When I saw it I didn't want to believe it," Remus said his voice a bit shaky. "So I checked and then I double checked just to make sure, I even double checked the double check. But I came up with the same answer all the time."

"What?" Sirius asked concerned.

"The weekend before the week we take our N.E.W.T.s is a full moon," Remus said.

James squeezed his shoulder in sympathy; Sirius put a comforting hand on his shoulder while Peter stood in the background.

"Oy!" said Peter.

**

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To Be Continued…**


	5. Chapter Five

**Harry Potter or any other characters associated with the book are the sole property of J. K. Rowling. Any original character created solely for this story belongs to me, Little C.**

**Reviews, comments and even flames are welcome. A big thank you to my beta reader Dorothy.** **Chapters 1 to 5 have been through a slight revision to eliminate typos and such.**

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**

The Things We Never Did or Said, Chapter Five

Lindsey woke with a start, startling Lily awake as well. Warm blood dripped from her nose but she ignored it. Grabbing her robe that was lying nearby, Lindsey slid out of bed and padded barefoot across the room to the window.

"Where are you going?" Lily asked in a hushed voice, still a little jumpy from the scare. "It's the middle of the night."

"I had a vision," Lindsey said and opened the window. "James is in danger."

"James and the others are safely tucked away in their beds," Lily said. "We even saw them walk up to their dormitory."

"But did we see them stay there?" Lindsey asked as she hopped up on the windowsill. "You yourself said you had seen them sneak away in the dead of night and not return until early morning."

"But that was years ago," Lily objected, "James is Head Boy now and Remus is a Prefect, they would never do anything like that now! Besides, it's the weekend before N.E.W.T.s."

"Lily," Lindsey said gravely, "this is Potter and his friends we are talking about."

"You're right," Lily said, "but you'll be seen."

"What's one more owl in the dark," Lindsey said and transformed into her Animagus form. As she spread her wings to take flight she felt a tug at her tail feathers and turned and looked at Lily.

"Be careful," her friend said. Lindsey nodded as best as she could and took off.

The chilly night air helped to clear away the rest of the sleep from her mind. The vision had her somewhat confused, since she had been asleep at the time. For some reason, in her vision James had been a stag and was chased by either a wolf or Remus and since that made no sense she must have been dreaming when the vision hit her and they got mixed up in each other.

She flew low over the ground looking for movement, and detected footprints that lead towards the Forbidden Forest, so she headed that direction. If the boys were indeed in the forest, then they probably were in danger. She just hoped she wasn't too late.

It was hard to see anything in the murky darkness beneath the treetops, even with an owl's superior night vision. The full moon wasn't that helpful either, though it managed to shine through in certain places. She never felt comfortable flying around trees; she preferred wide open spaces and the free breeze that allowed her to glide. And in a forest such as this, wide open spaces were rare.

She liked her Animagus form. It was agile, had keen senses, and she loved being able to fly. She could have done a lot worse than an owl. Her only complaint was that her arms tired easily since she wasn't able to fly often. Flying had given her some serious upper body strength, but the fact that she was female and in a place like this, it was difficult to maintain.

Tired, she landed in a moonlit glade and transformed back into human form. With that the superior night vision was lost so she was left with doing the best she could with her normal vision and the moonlight.

Suddenly she heard the call of what sounded like a wolf, only wilder and more eerie. She grew cold as she recognised it as the howl of a werewolf and it seemed near. She heard the rustling of leaves. Something was approaching. Suddenly a stag came bursting into the glade, stopping abruptly when it noticed her.

She didn't know what was more surprising to her, the fact that it didn't bolt as soon as it saw her or the fact that the look of surprise on the stag's face was all too human. The memory of the vision came back to mind.

"James?" she asked befuddled. "Is that you?"

The stag took off and she followed. As an owl she would have no problem keeping up with the stag but as human she had to lumber on the best she could. It wasn't like she was dressed for this either, both her nightgown and robe kept getting caught in the thick undergrowth.

Tired and with aching feet, she tripped over a root and fell, hitting her jaw on another root and she tasted the metallic tang of blood in her mouth.

With pain-induced tears stinging her eyes, she got to her feet and looked around. There was no sign of the stag.

Leaning against the trunk of the tree, she felt like crying. She was lost in the Forbidden Forest dressed only in her nightclothes which were more or less in shreds. Her jaw hurt from the fall, her feet hurt from running over twigs and pine needles. She was tired from running and doubted that she would have enough strength to fly back to the castle if she transformed. To top it all off there was a werewolf somewhere out there.

"I'm so dead," she whimpered and sank down on the ground. Warm tears dripped down her face as she started to cry.

Much later she would berate herself for not climbing the tree when she had the chance, but when she heard the rustling of leaves and low growling, all thoughts but one left her mind. With a surge of adrenaline coursing through her veins, she got up and ran.

She heard the snarling of a large animal running after her and she knew that there was no way she would be able to outrun a werewolf. Sooner or later it would pounce on her and then it would all be over.

Tripping once again, she fell into a puddle of water. She was exhausted, and only had the strength to turn around see the werewolf standing some six feet away.

"Mum! Dad! Help!" she screamed, knowing it was futile. "Lily! Help! SIRIUS!"

The werewolf readied itself to lunge at her and tear her to shreds, when it suddenly howled in pain and began to frantically shake its tail. To her surprise, Lindsey saw a grey, somewhat fat rat biting the werewolf's tail. Suddenly the stag returned, lowering his head to charge toward the beast. Knocking the werewolf off its feet, the stag used his antlers to toss it into the foliage. Dazed from the assault and angry at the attack, the werewolf got to its feet. Wild feral eyes pinned the stag and long sharp fangs glittered in the moon light as the werewolf growled menacingly. The stag took off into the forest and the werewolf followed.

Flabbergasted was an understatement for what Lindsey felt at the moment. What that rat and stag had done was not typical animal behaviour.

And suddenly Sirius was at her side.

"Can you walk?" he asked and she shook her head. Sirius scooped her up and carried her. She didn't know where he was taking her and nor did she care, much like she didn't care how the heck he could have turned up so suddenly.

Lindsey had no idea where they were except that it was a very old house. Sirius gently put her down on some blankets spread out over a rickety four-poster bed with a dusty and shredded canopy. Tired, but curious, she looked around the room. The windows were boarded shut but some moonlight managed to filter in and illuminate the dusty room. Furniture lay upturned, some damaged beyond repair. There were signs of claw marks on the walls, floors and furniture. On a low bureau near the door she saw some herbs and fresh bandages.

"Where are we?" she asked as Sirius shrugged off his robe and draped it over her shoulders.

"The Shrieking Shack," he answered.

"What!" she exclaimed and tried to get to her feet. "This place is haunted, we have to get out."

"Relax," Sirius said, forcing her gently to sit down. "This place isn't haunted, not by ghosts anyway."

"What?"

"The rumour that this place is violently haunted is untrue," she heard James from the hallway. He appeared in the doorway seconds later.

"Did you manage to shake him?" Sirius asked solemnly.

"I did," James said with a sigh, "Peter is downstairs keeping guard in case he followed or decided to head back early."

"What are you talking about?" Lindsey asked getting to her feet despite the pain. "Where is Remus? What are you doing sneaking around in a haunted house? Where did that werewolf come from? Who is it?"

"Should we answer them in that particular order or should we just pick one at random?" Sirius asked, coaxing her to sit on the bed again.

"Just tell me what the heck in going on," she growled, surprised at the nerve of Sirius, still cracking jokes at a time like this.

"Actually," James said coming over to the bed, "I'm Head Boy so you will answer my question before we answer any of yours."

"I'm not going to answer any of your questions unless you answer mine," Lindsey objected.

"You answer one of mine and I'll answer one of yours," James said. "Is that okay?"

"Fine," Lindsey said.

"What were you doing out in the Forbidden Forest?" James asked.

"Looking for you," she said, "I had a vision you were being hunted by some vicious animal."

"What do you mean by vision?" he asked.

"I answered one of your questions," she said, "now you have to answer one of mine."

"She is right," Sirius said and James gave a nod for her to ask.

"Why are you sneaking around a haunted house?" she asked.

"Because it isn't haunted," James answered. "What do you mean by visions?"

"I'm surprised Sirius hasn't told you," she said sardonically. "I thought he told you everything."

"Not everything," James said, "and just answer the question."

"I have visions of the future," she said with a sigh, "five to ten minutes before it actually happens. Where is Remus?"

"Around," James said, being evasive. "What exactly did you see?"

"You being chased by a wolf," she said, "well, actually I saw a stag that I perceived to be you being chased by a wolf that I perceived to be Remus. I must have been dreaming about a zoo when the vision hit me."

Lindsey noticed the tense expression on their faces as well as the glance they exchanged; the look of someone getting caught in the act. And suddenly it dawned on her and she got up from the bed.

"They call you Prongs! You were that stag out in the forest! You ARE an Animagus!" She levelled James with a piercing stare. "Why didn't I see it before? How could I have been so blind?"

"Well, now that the cat is out of the bag I guess there is no reason denying it," James said with a shaky laugh. "You're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

"I'm bloody tempted," Lindsey said, "but I'm not going to."

"Really!" Sirius said looking relieved. "I mean, you have all the reasons in the world to tell on us!"

"If I tell on you," she said, "I might as well admit that I too am an Animagus."

"You are?" James and Sirius said in unison.

"Don't act so surprised," she said. "You must have noticed how certain books disappeared from the library? I did."

"We did," Sirius said, looking a little shocked.

"We just never thought it would be you," James said.

"Well, had I known the pains I would suffer for it I might not have done it after all," Lindsey grumbled, "next time Lily says something is a bad idea I'll listen."

"In other word you have just as much to lose as we do," James said.

"If you want to get technical about it," Lindsey said, "but that doesn't explain why there is a werewolf out there - one that you obviously know about - or where Remus is."

James was just about to say something when the door burst open and Peter came into the room. He looked terrified.

"He's back," he whimpered with a small voice. In the next instant he transformed into a rat and scuttled away.

"Our hero," Sirius said and rolled his eyes, though it was clear that he, too, was as scared as Peter, only he was able to control his fear.

"We need to get out of here," James said urgently.

"How? If he is downstairs we can't get to the tunnel," Sirius said.

"Who is downstairs?" Lindsey asked.

"The werewolf," James said, "this is his place."

"So all the howling and fighting that people assumed to be violent ghosts is really a werewolf?" Lindsey asked and James nodded. "Somehow that isn't the least bit comforting."

"Can you transform?" James asked her.

"Yes, but I doubt I'll be able to fly," she answered.

"You transform into a bird?" Sirius asked his voice keen with interest.

"An owl," she said.

"We don't have time to discuss that now," James said, "if we can get to one of the other rooms we might be able to sneak out of a window or something."

Sirius helped her down from the bed despite the fact that she could get to her feet without help, while James sneaked over to the door to see if the corridor outside was empty. James motioned for them to get over to him and together they tiptoed out into the corridor. As they were halfway to one of the other rooms they heard a growling sound from behind.

"Run!" James shouted and they made a dash for the room they had set their sights on.

James and Sirius closed the door, bracing their weight against it as if that would hold off a werewolf. Lindsey looked around the room and her heart sank to her feet.

"There is no window in this room," she said.

"What?" James exclaimed, horror struck.

Something heavy was thrown at the door and both James and Sirius moved away. They backed into a corner, placing themselves between Lindsey and the shuddering doorframe.

The door burst into the room in an explosion of splintered wood and dust. The werewolf levelled them with its predatory eyes and stalked towards them.

Sirius transformed into his Animagus form and for some reason Lindsey wasn't the least bit surprised that he turned into a huge bear-like dog.

The werewolf paused as if confused that a huge dog suddenly appeared to challenge him. Lindsey wondered if the werewolf was even aware that it was one of the humans transformed. She had read about werewolves in Defence Against the Dark Arts, but had never seen one before and the fact that this creature standing before them right now had ever been human was impossible to fathom. She had always imagined them to look like really big wolves like she had seen at The London Zoo, but this creature were nothing like a wolf.

James pressed back against her and she felt something jab her in the ribs. Looking down she saw it was James' wand. Without really thinking she grabbed it. Pointing it towards the werewolf she shouted,

"_Stupefy_!"

Red sparks shot from the wand and hit the werewolf mid-leap and it fell unconscious to the floor with a thud.

Sirius transformed into himself and looked at Lindsey who was still holding James' wand in her outstretched hand.

"Give me that," James muttered and yanked the wand from her, "before you poke someone's eye out."

Lindsey hadn't expected gratitude for saving their lives, after all she was just a girl and James and Sirius were the brightest and most talented wizards ever to attend Hogwarts.

The more she thought about it, it was really laughable how easy it had been to save their lives. Lindsey tried to keep herself from laughing, but as Peter came slinking into the room, she just couldn't help herself and doubled over with laughter. She laughed so hard she fell over and ended up sitting on the floor with tears trickling down her face.

When she managed to get her laughter under control she noticed that James, Sirius and Peter were looking at her with the strangest expression on their faces.

"What?" she asked with a smile.

"You just laughed," James said looking as though he had just witnessed a miracle.

"Well, it was funny," she said.

"It is funny that you saved our lives?" James asked. He seemed to be the only one that had regained his wits, Sirius and Peter was still staring at her.

"Sure," she said, "seeing as we could have just _Apparated_ out of here, since we are well away from school grounds."

"Oh, be quiet," James said huffily and pointed his wand at her. "Before I put a _Silencing Charm_ on you."

"We should get downstairs," Sirius said looking down at the werewolf. "It is still a few hours before dawn and I don't want him to wake before he has returned to normal."

The others nodded and they all left the room. Sirius tried to scoop her up in his arms to carry her downstairs but she batted him away from her, insisting she could walk on her own.

They regrouped downstairs in what looked as though it might have once been a living room.

"Can somebody tell me who that werewolf is and where is Remus?" she asked them yet again.

"I think we should tell her," Sirius said to James, "she is going to find out in a few hours anyway, might be a good idea to get the explanations out of the way as fast as possible."

"You're right," James said. "The werewolf is Remus."

"What?" Lindsey asked thinking she gone temporarily deaf or something because she just thought she heard James telling her that Remus was a werewolf.

"Remus is a werewolf," he said.

"For how long?" she asked still not sure how to process this information.

"Since he was young," Sirius said.

"How is he able to attend Hogwarts? Does Dumbledore know about this?"

"It was Dumbledore that worked out the plan for him to attend," James said.

"And you have known this for how long?"

"Ages," James said, "that's why we learned how to transform into animals, so we could always be together."

"You learned the difficult and dangerous art of Animagi just so you could run around at night with a werewolf?" Lindsey asked. As she spoke, she walked up to James and was now standing in front of him.

"Yeah," he said.

"Are you insane?" Lindsey yelled at him and grabbed hold of the front of his robe and shook him as she continued yelling at him. "Do you know how dangerous that is? You're Head Boy for crying out loud!"

She released him with a shove and he took a step back regaining his balance.

"You got some serious upper body strength there, Bloodsworth," he said amazed.

"You have no idea," she muttered.

"If you'll give us a minute we can explain," Sirius said.

"You better," Lindsey told him, "because right now I'm of the mind to go up there and wake the werewolf."

"Let's all sit down," James said, "because this will take some time."

They all sat down on the dusty floor.

**

* * *

To Be Continued…**


	6. Chapter Six

**Harry Potter or any other characters associated with the book are the sole property of J. K. Rowling. Any original character created solely for this story belongs to me, Little C.**

**Reviews, comments and even flames are welcome. A big thank you to my beta reader Dorothy.

* * *

**

**The Things We Never Did or Said, Chapter Six**

The sun was well over the horizon when they trudged towards the entrance of the castle. They had taken the passageway hidden beneath the Whomping Willow to get back and to minimize the risk of being discovered.

While James and Peter were supporting an injured Remus - their attempt at distracting him from her in the forest had been a little rougher than they thought - Sirius was helping Lindsey. Now that the adrenaline had subsided, her wounds started to ache. The ache in her jaw didn't hinder her movement, but the throbbing in her feet made walking difficult.

They managed to enter the castle quietly but as they debated the best way to get Remus and Lindsey to the infirmary - and the convenient lie - the entrance hall lit up. Looking around they saw Dumbledore standing on the steps to the first floor.

"You are up a bit too early," Dumbledore said, "breakfast isn't served for another hour. Although I must say only three of you are dressed for it, how come that is so?"

Lindsey saw that James was about to say something and she had a feeling that whatever it was he was about to say would just make things worse, so she hurried to cut him off.

"It's my fault," she said and Dumbledore looked at her and she could feel that the others were too. "I have a tendency to sleepwalk and it seemed that tonight for some reason I had wandered out onto the grounds. James, Sirius and Peter noticed me from the window as they were preparing for bed and wondered why I was outside in my night clothes. When they found me, hours later, I was awake and confused, mostly over what they were doing outside. When we returned to the castle we were attacked by something and it chased us deeper into the forest, it was a miracle that we survived."

"And what about young Lupin?" Dumbledore asked sagely.

"We have no idea," Sirius said, "we found him like this near the Whomping Willow."

Dumbledore looked at them for a long while not saying a word and they all felt increasingly nervous. Lindsey was an inch from blurting out the truth when he finally spoke.

"Since you all seem to be victims of circumstance, we will forget this ever happened. No points will be deducted, no detentions will be served, and we will never speak of this again. Now, Misters Potter, Black and Pettigrew, if you would be so kind as to assist Miss Bloodsworth and Mister Lupin to the hospital wing and then you can tidy up and join your friends at breakfast."

They all drew a breath of relief when Dumbledore moved out of sight.

"I thought we where going to get expelled for sure," James said as they headed for the hospital wing.

"This would never have happened if Filch hadn't confiscated our map," Sirius grunted.

"Oh, quit your bellyaching about the bloody map," James muttered, irritated. "We already know it like the back of our hands."

"Quit it, all of you," Remus said, speaking for the first time this morning, "perhaps it escaped your attention but Lindsey just lied to cover our backs."

"I lied to cover my back as well as yours," she said and leaned against the wall, "our N.E.W.T.s are this coming week it would have been humiliating to be expelled."

James was about to say something when they heard the sound of running feet.

"My god!" Lily's voice echoed in the empty corridor as she came running towards them. "Lindsey, are you okay? You look terrible, are you badly hurt?"

"I'm fine," she said, glad for the fact that she was no longer alone with the boys. "Just got a million splinters in my feet, among other aches."

Lily took in the bruised jaw, the many scratches and contusions visible on Lindsey's arms and legs before she rounded on James and slapped him hard across the face.

"How dare you?" she hissed at him. "How dare you put yourself in danger so Lindsey had to risk her life just to save you? How dare you?"

"My life was never in danger until she interfered," James said hotly. "Had she not interfered, nothing would have happened."

"Lindsey's visions are never wrong," Lily hissed, "if she said you were in danger then you were in danger."

"I have been wrong," Lindsey objected.

"That little son of bitch lied himself blue in the face," Lily snapped.

"Can we continue this later?" Remus asked with a pained voice. "Right now my ribs are scuffing a hole in my lung and it's kind of painful."

Lily glared at James and then turned to help Lindsey to the hospital wing.

* * *

Sirius rubbed his temples in an attempt to alleviate the pain caused by reading squiggly, faded text in inadequate lightning. He didn't need to read any of the material, but he felt a bit nervous about the test the next day and figured that a little studying wouldn't hurt.

"Now this is something I never thought I would see," he heard Lindsey's voice say and looked up. She was standing next to one of the bookcases with an amused smile on her lips. Sirius could see traces of dimples on her cheeks; he knew they were there, he had seen them just the other day at the Shrieking Shack.

"Just making sure nothing has been forgotten," he said closing the book and getting up from his seat. "Want to make sure I pass with good grades."

"Some of us will be happy with just passing," she said.

"You'll do just fine," he assured. "Did you know that you have the prettiest smile I've ever seen?" he asked her and he noticed that she blushed. "I've been waiting a long time to see it."

"So your friends told me," Lindsey said, "I should be mad for what you did to me, but in a weird way it's kind of cute."

"So you aren't going to turn me into a piglet again?" he asked and she shook her head. "And I was so looking forward to it."

"I could turn you into one just for fun," she said.

"I know what you could do," he said. "You could show me your Animagus form."

For a moment she just looked at him, then burst into laughter.

"Is this some kind of version of 'you show me yours, I'll show you mine'?" she asked.

"What?" Sirius asked bewildered.

"Forget it," she said, "if you really want to see, we have to get to the Owlery."

Making sure they weren't seen by human, ghost or animal they made their way to the Owlery. The owls sitting on their roosts didn't bother to look at them as they entered.

Sirius watched as Lindsey took a deep breath and in the next moment a snowy owl spread its wings and silently, almost eerily flew around the room before landing on the floor and resuming human form.

"Satisfied?" she asked.

"It suits you," he said with a nod. "Let's head back to the common room."

"Maybe we should find a nickname for you," Sirius suggested as the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open and admitted them into the Gryffindor common room. The room was still warm though the fire had died out and was bathed in the cool blue light of the waning moon.

"You do that and you'll be eating slugs for a week," Lindsey said, although Sirius wasn't sure if she was serious or not because she was smiling.

"You are smiling a lot more now than you did before the incident in the Shrieking Shack," he said.

"I remembered how good it feels to smile and generally be happy," she said, "and although I miss my parents terribly, life goes on."

"So it does," he agreed. Sirius plucked a feather from her robe and drew a gasping breath as the moon came out from behind the clouds and shined over her. Her skin looked deathly pale and her hair looked like liquid silver. She seemed to be ethereal, an illusion brought on by night. Slowly he reached out his hand and touched her face; the smooth skin beneath his fingers was warm and solid, she was real.

Suddenly she took a step back and something black dripped from her nose, it took a second before he realised that it was blood.

"You're bleeding," he said.

"I'm going to bed," she said, hurrying over to the stairs up to the girl's dormitory before Sirius had a chance to say or do anything.

* * *

Lily was just about to fall asleep when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. She cracked open an eye and saw Lindsey walking towards her bed with a tissue pressed to her nose.

With a low sigh she sat up and looked to make sure the others hadn't woken at the sound of Lindsey's arrival. She slipped out of bed and went over to her friend.

"Who's in trouble now?" she asked. She was still a little peeved over the fact that Lindsey had risked her life to save James just to be accused of causing the danger.

"No one," Lindsey answered. "I was down in the common room talking to Sirius when the vision hit me."

"Were his friends on their way to kidnap him?" Lily asked and sat down on Lindsey's bed.

"No," Lindsey said, "I just had the timeliest vision ever."

"Oh!" Lily was surprised.

"I had a vision of Sirius kissing me down in the common room," she said. "Had I stayed it would have happened."

"I would say that was the most untimely vision you have ever had," Lily said hotly. Lindsey looked startled at her. "If Sirius was about to kiss you without any outside incentives he must like you. It might not lead to a big white wedding, a house with a picket fence and two point five children, he is too much of a rebel to ever do that, but go with it while it lasts and have fun."

"I'm not sure I want him to like me," Lindsey said, "I'm not sure _I_ like him."

"Think with this for once," Lily said jabbing her finger over Lindsey's heart, "not this, "she said as she poked her on the forehead.

"I don't know," Lindsey said hesitantly, twisting the tissue, "loving someone is taking an awfully big risk."

"Something you seem to be very good at," Lily said, "and Lindsey, choosing not to fall in love might be an even bigger risk."

Lindsey sighed heavily. Lily knew it was hard - it had taken hours of agonized soul-searching before she could admit to herself she loved James. But when she finally admitted it, it was the best thing she had ever done. As far as she knew, Lindsey had never been in love, not even a crush on a cute boy at their old school or some handsome movie star. That fact must've made it even more difficult for Lindsey

"Let's get to bed," Lily said. "We can discuss this tomorrow at breakfast."

"Tomorrow we take our N.E.W.T.s," Lindsey said as she pulled off her robe.

Lily felt cold with dread as she climbed back into bed. She had mercifully managed to forget about their upcoming N.E.W.T.s, but now that Lindsey had reminded her, the nervousness came flooding back.

* * *

All around her, Lindsey could hear the scratching of feather quills against parchment. The time was soon up and she felt that she had done as well as she could. She was good with written exams, since all you had to do was remember stuff; it was practical exams she was bad at taking.

She had trouble concentrating, and it wasn't because of what Lily said last night, nor was it that Sirius had tried to talk to her. There was a buzzing sensation in her head that didn't go away. It was kind of distracting but not enough to be an actual problem.

"Time's up!" Professor Flitwick announced with his squeaky voice. "Please, remain seated while I collect the tests. Accio Tests!"

The test on her desk levitated and joined all the others in front of Professor Flitwick. With a relieved sigh she got up from her seat but grabbed hold of the desk for support when the buzzing increased. All of a sudden, as if superimposed over reality, a different scene swirled before her eyes.

_It was Platform Nine and Three-quarters. Almost in slow motion she watched the Hogwarts Express pull into the station and a pretty girl - about ten or eleven - with long black hair in twin plaits wearing a Hogwarts robe with a Gryffindor scarf get off the train and was greeted with a huge hug from a tall man with black hair. Beside the man stood a woman with ash blond hair in a single braid that reached past her waist. She was smiling and the girl turned and hugged the woman as well._

She found herself sitting on the floor with a group of students gathered around her and Lily frantically calling her name.

"Lindsey! Can you hear me?" Lily shouted, her voice nearing panic.

"I hear you," she said, her voice weak.

"Are you all right?" Lily asked, somewhat calmer.

"Headache," Lindsey said, feeling something warm trickle slowly down her cheek. She brushed it away and was shocked to find her fingers bloody.

"Take it easy," Lily said, "you're bleeding from your eyes."

"We should take her to the hospital wing," James said, his voice coming from somewhere behind her.

"Good idea," Lily said. Lindsey felt herself being lifted from the floor and carried out of the Great Hall.

She was lying in bed in the hospital wing staring at the ceiling. Madame Pomfrey was unable to find anything wrong with her and had thus concluded that it was just stress over the exam. Lindsey had not argued since she had no desire to explain herself.

"How are you feeling?" Lily asked.

"I still have a headache," Lindsey said, "but I'll live."

"What happened?" Remus asked.

"I suppose I had a vision," she said, "at least it felt like it, but it was different."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked sounding concerned.

"What I saw must have been years into the future," Lindsey said, "because it can't happen anytime soon."

"People have been known to make prophesies," James said, "those can be anywhere from one day to ten years into the future."

"True," Lily said, "but Lindsey has never been able to see more than five to ten minutes into the future. Her visions are different from anything we've been taught in Divination. Besides, she's been able to see a few minutes into the future long before we came to Hogwarts.

"Maybe her powers are growing then," Remus suggested.

"There is no need to talk about me in third person when I'm right here," Lindsey objected, "and I really hope it isn't evolving because that was uncomfortable."

"What did you see?" Lily asked curiously.

"Sirius getting married," Lindsey said and paused before she continued, "to Remus."

Sirius, who had been sitting on the edge of the bed, slid off and landed on the floor with a look of abject horror on his face.

"I feel sick," Remus said, green in the face.

"I'm kidding," Lindsey said. Thinking she could indulge in a little white lie, she continued. "It was Lily and James' wedding."

"Really?" Lily asked, her face alight with excitement.

"Yes, but this was years into the future," Lindsey admonished. "So it's not a hundred percent true."

"What did my dress look like? Don't say anything. Was it pretty? No, don't tell me, I don't want to know." Lily babbled excitedly.

"I told you you were marriage material, Prongs," Sirius said getting up from the floor and patting James on the shoulder. "You two will probably to be the first of us to get married as well."

James, who had become more and more pale with each passing second, made a funny noise as his eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed.

"He'll be fine," Sirius said with a glance at his friend on the floor. "He just needs time to get over the shock. It is not every day you find out you're going to get married... long before you've even decided to propose."

Madam Pomfrey suddenly appeared and shooed them all out of the hospital wing for making such a ruckus and tended to her new patient.

It was late at night and Lindsey had gone back to staring at the ceiling. She had wracked her brain trying to figure out what her vision could mean, and why she suddenly had seen one so far into the future.

Remus' suggestion that her powers had grown stronger was a possibility but it was hardly an appealing prospect. A little nosebleed after a vision she could handle, but a headache and bleeding from the eyes was not something one got used to quickly, if ever.

"Lindsey?" she heard James ask from the bed next to her.

"Yes," she answered.

"Did you really see me and Lily getting married?" he asked.

"No, I didn't," she answered him. "I just said it to distract Lily."

"And thanks to that distraction I have a lump at the back of my head the size of a goose egg," James said sitting up in the bed. "I want to marry her someday but I want to decide it on my own and not through predestination."

"It's not like I set a date," Lindsey said also sitting.

"What did you really see?" James asked.

"Something impossible," she said.

"What? Sirius and Snivellus shaking hands?" James asked with a sly smile.

"When you put it that way," Lindsey said, "anything seems possible."

James laughed and winced in pain. He laid back down, and Lindsey resumed staring at the ceiling. She hadn't been able to pinpoint the vision but considering the fact that Sirius didn't seem to be the kind to marry young, she would put the vision at least twenty years into the future, and that gave it a wide margin for error, meaning it may never happen.

'_Pity_,' Lindsey thought to herself, '_it was such a pretty little girl_.'

Closing her eyes she went to sleep.

* * *

**To Be Continued...**


	7. Chapter Seven

**Harry Potter or any other characters associated with the book are the sole property of J. K. Rowling. Any original character created solely for this story belongs to me, Little C.**

**Reviews, comments and even flames are welcome. By the by this is the only chapter that actually has a name, I thought it very appropriate for some part of this chapter. A big thank you to my beta reader Dorothy.

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**

**The Things We Never Did or Said, Chapter Seven a.k.a. The Very Last Prank**

Lindsey and Lily were sitting at the top of the marble staircase looking down at James, Sirius, Remus and Peter moving around the entrance hall taking measurements of every single stone on the floor or poring over numerous sheets of parchment.

They had no clue what the boys were up to and they hadn't been told when asked to serve as lookouts. They both sat huddled beneath James' invisibility cloak with wands at the ready watching for humans, animals and ghosts.

So far they hadn't seen anything.

"I wonder what they are up to," Lily said in a hushed voice.

"Probably no good," Lindsey answered.

She had no idea why she and Lily had been recruited as look-outs since it normally seemed to be Peter's jobbut from the look of things, they all needed to be down there.

It was the day before their last day and Lindsey hoped they weren't doing anything that would get them in trouble, because it would be a cold day in hell before she covered for them again. However, being hidden by an invisibility cloak might mean she and Lily would remain unnoticed.

"That should do it," Sirius said satisfiedeyeing the floor.

"You sure that it's going to be random," James said to Remus. "Don't want them to figure out the pattern."

"It's set to randomize every hour," Remus said. "That should keep everyone on their toes."

Lily got to her feet and walked down to the four boys, Lindsey following her.

"What are you doing?" Lily asked as she joined them at the bottom of the marble stair.

"Preparing a fun filled day," James said.

"Your definition of fun is entirely your own," Lily said crossing her arms over her chest, "for all I know it might be fatal for someone else."

"I would hardly call this fatal," Remus said as he stepped on a stone and a sound like bluebirds twittering was heard.

"You've Hexed the stones to give off sound when stepped on." Lindsey said.

"Correct," Sirius replied. "Actually they are Hexed to do more than just give off sounds."

"Such as?" Lily asked curiously.

"Let's just say that today would be a good day to wear undergarments," James said.

"That's cruel," Lily exclaimed.

"If directed at a specific person it is cruel," Remus corrected. "If it can happen to anybody it is just bad luck. And today not even Lady Luck will be lucky."

And as if to demonstrate what exactly they had doneJames took several steps backwards, placing his weight on a stone that gave off a roar like a lion, then another which sounded like a train whistle. Some he stepped on remained silent. However the fifth stone he stepped on had him hanging upside down in the air, his robe hanging down over his face.

"I'm sure Snivellus will appreciate that one," Sirius said with a sneer.

Lindsey grabbed hold of Lily's hand in time to prevent her from smacking Sirius upside his head.

* * *

Sirius, James, Remus, Peter and Lily were sitting in the Great Hall eating lunch. Lily was eyeing her goblet carefully. After the boys had finished with the entrance hall they had Enchanted the goblets in the Great Hall to spew whatever people poured into them. Just like the entrance hall, it would occur randomly. They hadn't told her or Lindsey about it and Lindsey had received a rather wet surprise when she had poured herself some juice.

"I think it is safe," James said, "though I would duck."

"I'm surprised no one has come for your blood yet," Lily said looking around the hall, "but the day is still young."

"A couple of egos might be bruised but no one has really reacted badly," Remus said. "Most people seem to take it for what it is; a bit of harmless fun."

"And the only grumpy people who haven't reacted at all are the Slytherins," Sirius said.

"To be perfectly honest I think they have frowns etched onto their faces," James said.

"I just hope Lindsey isn't plotting revenge," Remus said, "she didn't look too happy when she stormed out of here. Thank Merlin she wasn't one of the ones turned upside down in the entrance hall."

"I wouldn't worry, she just got a bit scared is all," Lily said reassuringly and poured pumpkin juice into her goblet but recoiled in surprise as the juice was jettisoned upward with a small bang and rained down over a group of sixth year Hufflepuffs.

"Sorry," she whispered sheepishly to the drenched group.

They nodded understandingly but looked at bit miffed as they wiped juice from their faces. Both James and Remus were looking at the goblet in shock. The goblet was vibrating.

"Get down!" Remus shouted and they ducked down under the table a split second before the goblet exploded with a ringing sound.

"It shouldn't have done that," James said cautiously picking up a piece of the goblet for closer inspection. "Could we have miscalculated?"

"While you two geniuses try and figure it out," Sirius said, "I'll be looking for Lindsey, to see if she is okay."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Lily asked.

"No," he said, "you just stay here and help those two solve the mystery of the exploding goblet."

James and Remus shot him a nasty look as he left the Great Hall.

Outsidethe sun was shining in a cloud-free sky and the birds were singing in the trees. It didn't take him long to find Lindsey; she was sitting on a rock near the cliffs looking out over the lake.

"I'm not mad," she said as he came up to her.

"That is good to hear," he said.

"But there's a fine line between a joke and scaring people," she said looking at him over her shoulder.

"In my opinion," he said sitting down on the ground, "they are mostly the same, both get the heart pumping."

She agreed with a nod and got up from the rock and walked over to the edge of the cliff.

"At the risk of sounding overly-sentimental," she said, "would you catch me if I started to fall?"

"I would," he said and joined her at the edge. "And when I caught you I would never let you go."

An odd expression settled over her features.

"Why do you do that?" she asked.

"Do what?" he askedbewildered.

"Making promises life won't let you keep," she said. "Whatever you promise today will be of naught tomorrow."

"Is this related to your parent's death or do you know something the rest of us don't?" he asked.

"You don't need to be clairvoyant to know that life isn't what you make it," she said, "it's just a series of events leading inevitably to your death. So what is the use of making friends, falling in love, being happy when it won't last?"

"Because if we didn't do that, those series of events would be very few and hollow," he said. "No one can promise to live or love forever but what matters is that we try. Besidesdeath might not be the end, but the beginning of another adventure. When the veil pulls back maybe all those that have gone before us will be there waiting, ready to welcome us with open arms."

"I didn't know you where such a romantic," she said.

"I'm not," he said. "This kind of talk creeps me out."

"I'm happy you wanted to make me smile," she said sincerely, "in doing so I got to know the real you, which isn't much different from the person I thought you were. Still, I'm grateful. And I would like to take the next step, but I'm not sure about you."

"Do you want to know what I feel?" he asked.

"If you care to tell me," she said.

"I would claw my way out of the deepest circle of hell just to see you smile," he said truthfully and pulled her close to him.

* * *

Lindsey was resting her head in Sirius' lap as they enjoyed the silence in the empty Gryffindor common room. The skin on her face felt taunt and itchy after being out in the sun all day but she ignored it, it would be gone in the morning.

"What are you going to do once we leave Hogwarts?" Sirius suddenly asked.

"I'm going to live in the Muggle world," she said, "I'm going to work as liaisebetween the Muggle and Wizarding world."

"Really!" Sirius said surprised.

"I'm only good at Transfiguration and Charms," she said, "and I'm Muggle-born so I thought it made the most sense at the time."

"So you're not going to join the fight against Voldemort and his Death Eaters?" he asked.

"I just told you that I don't have that kind of power," she said. "My visions might be helpful but it's not like I can control them and if I ever had one in a battle they'd blow me to smithereens."

"I'd protect you," he said. "You know I would."

"They need people like you more than they need me," she said, "because I'm guessing you are going to join the fight."

"I am," he said, "so is James, Remus, Lily and Peter."

"Peter!" Lindsey said sceptically "He doesn't know the right end of a wand unless you tell him. What good could he do?"

"There is nothing really wrong with Peter, besides the fact that he is a bloody coward," Sirius said shrugging his shoulders.

"Are you really sure this is what you want to do?" she asked.

"Why wouldn't I want to join the fight against the darkest, most feared wizard of our time?" he asked.

"Are you doing it just to look cool?" she asked sitting up.

"No, I really want to fight him to keep those I love safe," he said sincerely, "although it would definitely annoy my family."

"Have you ever met someone that has been involved in a war?" she asked him.

"Not really, no," he said. "Have you?"

"My father's father," she said, "he participated in D-Day." Sirius looked confused. "World War II." Sirius still looked confused. "Big Muggle war in the 1940's."

"Oh, that," he saidthough Lindsey strongly doubted he knew what she was talking about.

"Anyhow," she said, "I was afraid of my grandfather, he was a nice man, but I was afraid of the haunted look in his eyes and he reeked of whiskey."

"So the man liked to drink," Sirius said.

"He drank so he didn't have to feel," she said, "he drank because he wanted to forget the horrors of the war. To forget the destruction, the suffering, the killing, everything he had done."

"That won't be me," he said, "if that is what you are worried about."

"You can't go into a war and expect to be the same," she said. "War changes you."

"So you are telling me that I can't fight for our freedom?" he asked.

"That is not what I'm saying," she said, "I'm just afraid that I won't recognise you when all this is over I'm afraid a stranger wearing your face will return."

"That won't happen," he said, "I promise that no matter what I will return to you as I am."

"There you go again with the promises," she said.

"If a promise is broken then that promise was never meant to be made in the first place," he said heatedly, "promises that are held are the ones that are worth the effort."

"Will you make the effort?" she asked her voice wavering.

"Anything for you," he said.

Lindsey looked up at him and realised that regardless of what she had told Lily just a few days ago her heart had decide for her what to do.

"Will you take a risk with me?" she asked.

"What risk?" he asked.

"Fall in love," she said breathlessly.

"I already have," he said and pulled her close for a kiss. Lindsey wasn't sure what she felt as Sirius deepened the kiss, but she guessed that ecstasy was a good as word as any.

They heard people entering the common room and pulled apart, trying to act as though nothing had happened as Lily, James, Remus and Peter joined them.

James threw her a leather pouch and as she caught it, it made a clinking sound. Puzzled, she opened it and looked inside.

"Six galleons?" she asked confused. "What for?"

"Those are the coins we bet on whether Sirius would actually make you smile or not," James explained. "You did smile before the 'deadline' but it was Sirius and no other that had to be the source of the smile. So technically none of us won."

"But why are you giving it to me?" she asked.

"Because that it the only fair option," Remus said, "we shouldn't have bet on it and we should have stopped this prat from ever bothering you."

"I don't know about the last thing, Remus," Lily said, "from where I'm sitting it looks very much like it was the best thing that could have happened."

"Get out of here," Peter said with a smile, "you are dating?"

"I wouldn't go that far," Lily said eying them and Lindsey felt herself blushing.

"I see what you mean," James said, "odds are that Moony here gets married before Padfoot even pops the question."

"Hey!" Remus said sounding slightly offended.

"What was up with the exploding goblet?" Sirius suddenly asked. Whether he was deliberately trying to change the subject or not Lindsey didn't know but she was grateful for it.

"Not a clue," James said, "fortunately it was an isolated incident."

"Far as we could figure it had some prior instability," Remus said.

"How long is this spell going to continue?" Lindsey asked.

"It will dissipate around midnight," James said.

"While we are on the subject of spells," Lily said, "why did you guys decide to become Animagus?"

"Did Lindsey tell you that?" James asked.

"Yes, but it wasn't that hard to wrap my brain around it," she said, "did you do it because of the challenge or did you have another motive?"

James, Sirius and Peter all looked at Remus who had suddenly gone very pale except for bright red spots on his cheeks which made him look as though he had a fever. He took a deep breath and looked directly at Lily.

"I'm a werewolf."

Timeseemed to stop for a moment as the confession hung in the air. Lily got up from where she had been sitting and over to Remus who had got up from his seat. For what seemed an eternity Lily just looked at him then embraced him. A strangled sob escaped Remus as he put his arms around her in relief at her acceptance. Lindsey even saw a tear fall down his cheek.

The next morning they found their trunks packed and they left Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the seventh and last time. The carefree summer of their youth had come to an end and the dutiful autumn of their adulthood had just begun.

* * *

**To Be Continued...

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	8. Chapter Eight

**Harry Potter or any other characters associated with the book are the sole property of J. K. Rowling. Any original character created solely for this story belongs to me, Little C.**

**Reviews, comments and even flames are welcome. A big thank you to my beta reader Dorothy.

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**

**The ****Things We Never Did or Said, Chapter Eight**

It was still dark outside when James heard a low rumbling sound coming from outside. He and Remus got up from the table in the kitchen and walked into the dining room. Looking out through the French windows they saw a huge motorbike drop out of the sky.

"That isn't who I think it is, is it?" Remus asked disapprovingly.

"Oh, I think it is," James answered amused.

They went outside just as Sirius turned off the engine on the motorbike. In the sudden silence they could hear an owl hoot in the distance.

"This is your idea of keeping a low profile?" Remus asked Sirius, who had just dismounted.

"What?" Sirius asked questioningly. "Muggles use them all the time!"

"But they don't fly," Remus objected.

"Why didn't you just Apparate?" James asked.

"Had you kept the wedding at your parent's place I would have," Sirius said to James. "But since this isn't your parent's place I didn't want to take any chances."

"You're calling this not taking any chances?" Remus exclaimed, obviously still upset over the flying aspect of the motorbike. "You might as well have shown up on a dragon."

"That would have attracted more attention than a flying motorbike," James commented.

"And put me in the express lane to Azkaban," Sirius said, "I have never seen a real Dementor and I like to keep it that way."

"I reckon it would be a good idea," Remus said sounding cross, "force you to grow up."

"Why don't you go howl at the moon," Sirius shot back.

James felt moved to intervene before anyone said or did something that they would regret later on.

"Calm down," he said getting between Remus and Sirius, "today is a wedding and there will be no squabbles. Besides, we are the Marauders; we don't fight amongst ourselves."

"True," Sirius said, "though we seem to be one member short."

"Peter said he was going to be a bit late," James said as he ushered Sirius and Remus towards the house, "but he would be here for the ceremony."

"You are holding the ceremony here?" Sirius asked a bit surprised. "Wherever here is?"

"This is Lindsey's house," James said locking the door as they got inside. "Lily thought it would be best to keep the wedding and reception on neutral ground, keeps people from getting too comfy and make a scene."

"I can see why," Sirius said, "this is, after all, a mixed marriage."

"Very funny, Padfoot," James said. "Remind me to laugh at it later."

"So Lindsey is our humble hostess," Sirius said with a smile, "where is she by they way?"

"Still asleep," James said.

"And I wouldn't speak to her if I were you," Remus said.

"Why not?" Sirius asked.

"She is stressed out," James explained, "the other night she discovered a speck of dust on the mantelpiece and went ballistic. It took hours for Lily and her mother to calm her down."

"Whoever owns that combustion-driven bicycle out on the street had better move it to the garage," a voice yelled and James looked up to find Lindsey standing on the stairs to the second floor. She was dressed in ordinary Muggle clothes.

"It's a motorbike," Sirius said, sounding a bit offended.

"I don't care if it's an enchanted pumpkin," Lindsey said sounding indifferent. "It goes into the garage."

"I put an anti-theft Charm on it," Sirius said, "so you don't have to worry about that."

"That is exactly what I'm worried about," she said and threw him a key that he deftly caught. "Now put it into the garage. Remus, be a good boy and help him."

James unlocked the door and Sirius, followed by Remus, trudged outside to put the motorbike in the garage. Closing the door he followed Lindsey into the kitchen where he found her in the process of making tea.

"Is Lily up?" James asked her.

"She is and you are not to see her," she said, "I told you yesterday that it is bad luck to see the bride twenty-four hours before the wedding."

"Muggle superstition," James scoffed.

"Lily is Muggle-born," Lindsey said, "and I suggest you don't try to see her either if you want to get married with all your limbs intact."

"My, my," James said, "we are cranky this morning."

"You try hosting a marriage in your house and let's see what it does to your mood," she said removing the whistling kettle from the stove.

"We could have had it at my parent's place," James said.

"I have already told you why I offered to have it here," she said as she took teacups from a cabinet. "Besides, Lily wanted it here."

"So she said," James said.

Lindsey placed a teacup in front of him and seated herself on the opposite side of the table, sipping her own tea.

"Lindsey!" they heard Lily's mother's voice coming from the hallway.

"Coming," Lindsey called and got up from her chair, "if she asks me one more time if her dress looks like the one I saw in my vision, I'm going to strangle her."

James shook his head in amusement, sipping his tea as she left the kitchen. Sirius and Remus entered the kitchen and joined him at the table.

"What I don't understand is why there are no signs of a wedding here." Sirius asked. "Shouldn't there be decorations or stuff like that?"

"Lindsey has a schedule taped on the fridge," James said and pointed.

Sirius got up from his chair and walked over to the fridge to look at the schedule. He paled slightly as he looked at it.

"I'll never understand a female's ability to cram so much into so few hours," Sirius said. "Half of this would take me at least a day."

"Well, she has us to boss around," Remus commented.

"Or she could always use her wand," James said, "she is, after all, a witch."

"Where is she, by the way?" Sirius asked.

"Upstairs strangling Lily," James said and they both looked at him with alarm. "Lily has been pestering her about the wedding dress. You might remember the vision she had on the day of our N.E.W.T.s and that she said she had seen our wedding."

"Vaguely," Remus said.

"She didn't see our wedding," James said, "she just wanted to distract Lily."

"And now Lily is asking Lindsey if her dress is the one she had in the vision," Remus said.

"Precisely," James said. "Lindsey has assured her a hundred times that it is the dress but Lily keeps pestering her."

"Since she seems to be occupied," Sirius said and sat down at the kitchen table, "I want to take the opportunity to ask your opinion about this."

He put a slender, yet sturdy looking gold ring on the table. It was sort of reminiscent to an engagement ring but instead of a stone it depicted two hands holding a crowned heart.

"It looks like a ring," Remus commented.

"It's a Claddagh ring," Sirius said.

"On whose finger do you intend to put it?" James asked though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

"Lindsey's," Sirius answered.

"Are you planning to propose to her?" James asked.

"Not really," Sirius said, "it is more of a possibility that if we are both alive and well when Voldemort has been defeated maybe we could, if we want to, perhaps get married."

"Technically that is a proposal," Remus said, "although in a very vague sense of the word."

"I'm sure she will love the ring," James said with a smile, "and the sentiment that goes with it that one day, maybe, perhaps you will ask if you want to."

"I'm not in a hurry," Sirius said picking up the ring from the table.

"Let's just hope that she has the same loose attitudes as you towards marriage or you'll be in big trouble," James said.

There was a knock on the front door.

"Seems like the fourth member of our little quartet has finally arrived," James said getting up from the chair.

"You didn't forget their rings?" James heard Remus ask Sirius.

"Of course not," he heard Sirius answer huffily and James smiled as he unlocked the door.

* * *

The sun was shining down on the rather large group gathered out in the backyard at the Bloodsworth's residence. Everybody was wearing formal Muggle attire, although the witches and wizards present didn't look that comfortable in them. To be truthful, neither did the Muggles, and Sirius could understand why. They were itchy, chafed, and generally uncomfortable. It was Lindsey's achievement that everyone from the wizarding community was wearing proper clothing for a Muggle wedding. She had been standing at the door greeting everyone - or as Remus had put it, inspecting everyone - she had even briefed them on what topics they could and could not talk about. Her list had pretty much left them with just the weather and even that was uncertain. Lindsey had been buzzing around like mad before the guests had arrived, fixing decorations - inside and outside - with her wand and clearing out the dining room before the caterers arrived with the food. Everyone stayed out of her way, not wanting to get in the path of the small tornado she had become. They had all been amazed that she indeed had finished in time.

He and James were waiting at the gazebo together with the minister, getting rather warm in the sun. Sirius had been very surprised to learn the Victorian-style mansion belonged to Lindsey, especially since he had thought both her parents were librarians. However, Lily's mother explained that Lindsey's family belonged to what remained of England's upper class, though they had no title. What they did have was a fine home and lots of money.

Suddenly the Wedding March started to play and down the steps from the porch came Lindsey followed by Lily being escorted by her father.

Lily was absolutely breathtaking in her ivory wedding dress with gold brocade bodice. Her veil was fastened with a silver tiara. Most eyes were trained on the bride, but Sirius couldn't take his eyes off of Lindsey. She was dressed in a pale daffodil-yellow strapless gown that clung to her curves like a second skin. Her long hair was pinned into a sweeping up-do that cascaded artfully over her left shoulder in curls, and she wore a crown of orange daisies. Although Sirius was sure she wore make-up, he could only make out the pale pink lipstick accentuating the softness of her lips.

"I know it is Lindsey you are looking at," James hissed at him, "but would you please close your mouth before you start drooling."

Sirius closed his mouth and saw a smile play over Lindsey's lips as she reached the gazebo and took her place at the bride's left side.

Lily's father handed her over to James and sat down beside her mother who was already wiping away tears.

Sirius didn't hear a word the minister said, as he was looking at Lindsey the whole time. Though he made no attempt to hide it, she didn't seem to be uncomfortable by it. He was so enraptured with her that he missed the queue to give the rings to James. A discrete pinch, courtesy Remus, brought his attention to the task, and he managed not to make a complete fool of himself. James gave him a knowing look as he handed him the rings.

James and Lily exchanged rings and said their vows.

"By the powers vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife," the minister announced, "you may kiss the bride."

James pulled back the veil and kissed Lily to great cheers and applause.

Sirius and Remus stayed behind when the other guests had gone home to help Lindsey clean up and put things back in order. It took them about an hour to clean it all up and feeling a bit wired they decided to have a cup of tea before calling it a night.

Remus flinched as Sirius put an icepack to his swollen eye. When Lily threw the bouquet, Remus caught it but a slight scuffle ensued when some of the girls decided they needed the bouquet more than he did.

"You could have warned me, you know," he said grouchily to Lindsey who was standing by the stove making tea.

"I assumed you knew," she said, taking the kettle from the stove.

"Don't assume anything," Remus said. "What's the big idea of the bouquet anyway?"

"If you catch it you'll be the next in line to get married," Lindsey offered, filling three cups with hot water.

"How cute," Remus said, "I got trashed by spinsters."

"They looked pretty fresh to me," Sirius said.

"Shut your gob or I'll bite you," Remus muttered.

"Does that work while you're in human form?" Lindsey asked as she brought the teacups over to the table. "I'm pretty sure Muggle lore says it doesn't matter, but I'm not sure what it says in the Dark Arts."

"Well, if Sirius doesn't keep quiet we'll found out," Remus said giving Sirius a dark look.

"Boys," Lindsey said sternly, "remember that you are friends. And I don't particularly fancy mending my kitchen."

"Lily's mother told me your family belongs to the upper classes," Sirius said. "How come you never told us?"

"A grand house and some inherited money is hardly something to brag about," Lindsey said.

"If it wasn't for inheritance the Malfoy's or the Black's would have nothing," Remus said, "and they always make a point of bragging about it."

"Don't mention my estranged family in my presence," Sirius objected.

"It is you who are estranged from your family not the other way around," Remus corrected him.

Sirius was about to say something when he noticed blood dripping from Lindsey's nose. She fished a tissue out of the pocket of her jeans.

"Did you have a vision?" he asked her and she shook her head.

"No, as a result of the visions I have weak blood vessels in the nose," she explained. "Emotional upsets can cause a nosebleed."

"I'm sure weddings can get pretty emotional but not enough to cause any physical symptoms," Remus said, "except for crying."

"I have heard that Lily and James have thwarted Voldemort's plans more than once and I was afraid that the Death Eaters would show up at the wedding," she said with a sigh. "I'm glad nothing like that happened."

"I'm just glad Lily's sister wasn't here," Sirius said, "that woman is horrible."

"She was invited but she declined," Lindsey said, "for which I'm very grateful. Had she come, she would have had that horrible boyfriend with her."

"How about a toast to absent horrors," Sirius said raising his teacup; Remus and Lindsey did the same.

"To absent horrors."

They drank their tea in silence. When finished, they excused themselves and made to leave. Lindsey offered to have them stay the night, but they felt they should go home.

"Did you give her the ring?" Remus asked as he gingerly sat behind Sirius on the motorbike.

"The opportunity didn't present itself," Sirius said starting the engine, after managing to get the key into the ignition, for some reason it seemed to move around.

"Well, there will be other chances," Remus said clutching on to Sirius as the motorbike lifted from the ground.

"True," Sirius said looking down at the house and saw that the light was on in a window on the second floor, and someone was standing there looking out into the night.

"There will be other chances."

The motorbike gained altitude before levelling out and heading straight into the night.

Unknown to them, this was the last they would see each other for a long time. As Voldemort strived to reach the apex of his reign, their chance for a happy future seemed an impossible dream.

* * *

**To Be Continued...**


	9. Chapter Nine

**Harry Potter or any other characters associated with the book are the sole property of J. K. Rowling. Any original character created solely for this story belongs to me, Little C.**

**Reviews, comments and even flames are welcome. A big thank you to my beta reader Dorothy.**

**

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The **Things We Never Did or Said, Chapter Nine**

Lindsey was setting the table for dinner when her cousin, Sydney, entered with two letters in her hand. She held them out and Lindsey accepted them with a surprised look at her cousin.

"Owl post," Sydney said, "I believe that is the phrase you used."

"Yes," she said and accepted the letters. "Can you finish setting the table? The steak will be ready in a few minutes so just take it out when the timer goes off."

Sydney nodded and Lindsey walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her room and sat down on her bed before she took a look at the letters.

She recognised who the first letter was from immediately; Lily. There was no mistaking that elegant handwriting or the emerald green ink she had used ever since their first year at Hogwarts. The second letter was either hastily written or whomever wrote it was really not used to writing letters.

She opened Lily's first, her heart beating fast. She hadn't heard anything from Lily in nearly a year. It contained two pictures as well as a letter. She looked at the pictures, the first one she recognised from the day they had all arrived at King's Cross. Lily's father - thesubjects didn't move - had taken a picture of herself, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter before they had all parted ways. James was hugging Lily and she had allowed Sirius to hug her as well though she really hadn't felt that comfortable with that level of public displays of affection. She looked at the picture trying to recall what she felt that day. It seemed nearly a lifetime ago though it was just three years,and they had been so young. Lindsey didn't know why but she liked Muggle photos better than the moving Wizard kind. She liked the fact that you could capture a moment, and no matter how much time passed, the scene would never change.

She took a look at the other picture and in this one the people did move. It was James and Lily and Lily was holding a little baby in her arms, they both looked very much like the proud parents.

Lindsey noticed that the sleeping baby had black hair. The strange vision she had had on they day of their N.E.W.T.s came to her mind. It was quite obvious it was their child. She turned the photo over and found that there were names written there:

James, Lily and Harry

Then again she could be totally wrong. She put down the pictures and started on Lily's letter:

_Dear Lindsey_

_I'm sorry I haven't been able to stay in touch with you lately__ Things suddenly  
got hectic and are just now finally starting to slow down and make sense._

_I knew I told you that James and I were expecting our first child, as you  
can see on the picture it's a boy. I really missed you at Harry's christening,  
but we all thought it would be best to keep it simple and just the  
family - although you are more of a sister to me than my real one. _

_Sirius was chosen as Harry's godfather, I'm not sure if that was such a wise  
choice but at least he can be trusted. I wanted to make you his godmother  
but I guess you'll just have to wait for the next kid - that is if I ever let James touch  
me again._

_I must hurry and finish this letter, even though we are pretty safe right now  
we can't really afford to drop our guard. I want you to take care as well; even  
the Muggle world isn't that safe so I urge to keep - as Mad-Eye Moody  
would say - constant vigilance._

_Don't answer this letter; it seems like we have a double agent in our midst, we don't  
know who so we really can't afford to trust anyone. I'll contact you again as soon as I can. _

_Sincerely yours, _

_Lily Potter_

Lindsey folded the letter and got up from her bed and walked over to the window. It was just past sunset so some light still lingered at the horizon. She leaned her forehead against the cool windowpane. Somewhere out there her friends were fighting for their lives to keep the rest of them safe. She wished she could be with them, but she was neither heroic nor powerful.

She watched as the last light faded and the lights of the night flickered to life. A cold sense of dread filled her and she half expected to see the Dark Mark appear in the sky. Maybe she just felt a bit jumpy because Lily had mentioned a double agent. Who would be stupid enough to try and spy on the _Order of the Phoenix_, right under Dumbledore's nose?

She turned and saw the other letter lying on the bed. With a sigh she picked it up and opened it:

_Dear Lindsey_

_I'm so sorry, darling, things really took a turn for the worse lately but we hope  
that things will calm down now, although with Voldemort still on the loose  
I doubt it will ever be. We suspect we have a traitor in our midst. Lily and  
James have gone into hiding and I'm planning to do so as well, so this might  
be my last chance to speak to you for a long time._

_In the envelope, there is something I want you to have. I wanted to give it  
to you on the day of James and Lily's wedding, but couldn't find the proper moment.  
As it is now, the chances seem to be growing fewer by the minute. It's a Claddagh ring.  
I hope you know what it means. I have one, too. This ring is my promise  
to you that as long as we each wear them, we will be connected, no matter how far apart  
life takes us. _

_Until we meet again, my sweet._

_Yours forever,_

_Sirius Black_

Lindsey picked up the envelope and noticed that there was indeed a ring in it. She placed it the palm of her hand, examining it. The light shone on the crowned heart held securely by the two hands.

She felt warm all over, secure in the notion that this was the proof she needed from him. With trembling fingers she put the ring on her left hand ring finger with the crown outward, it fit perfectly.

There was a sudden knock on the door.

"Yes!" she called.

The door opened and Sydney poked her head inside.

"The steak is finished," she said, "are you coming down or should we start without you?"

"You go ahead," Lindsey said, "I'll be down in a minute."

Sydney nodded and closed the door behind her. Lindsey put the letters back into the envelopes and placed them on her dresser. As she was about to leave the room she was hit by a dizzy spell and leaned against the doorframe for support.

Superimposed in the hallway was an unfamiliar room. Unfortunately, the people in the room were not...

_"Lily, take Harry and go! Go! Run! I'll hold him off -"_

_Lily stumbled out of the room as James drew his wand. The front door burst open and there stood something barely recognizable as human, but more probable than not, Voldemort. The Dark Lord laughed - a high-pitched cackle - and a green light rushed out of his wand. The green light hit him and James sagged to the floor as he suddenly lost all his strength. _

_At first Lindsey didn't understand what she was seeing but as she stared at James, lying on the floor, his glasses broken and askew, hazel eyes staring out at nothing it dawned on her … James was dead._

_The scene changed as Voldemort moved into the house and a door opened revealing Lily standing in front of a crib. Fear was evident in her eyes but she was standing firmly in the way of the Dark Lord, protecting her baby with her very life._

_"Not Harry, not Harry, please – I'll do anything -"_

_"Stand aside - stand aside, girl -"_

_"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"_

_"Stand aside, you silly girl … stand aside, now …"_

_"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead -"_

_Voldemort advanced menacingly._

_"Not Harry! Please … have mercy … have mercy …"_

_A high-pitched laughter, a rush of green light and Lily fell lifeless to the floor, her green eyes opened wide. Voldemort pointed his wand at the one year old toddler sitting in the crib looking up at the monster that had just killed both his parents in cold blood. This time the green light filled the room…_

Lindsey was back in her room sitting on the floor. Far away she could hear someone screaming in terror. It took a while for her to realise it was she who was screaming.

Her Uncle Ben burst into the room with a fire poker in his hand looking wildly around for an attacker. Realising there were none he sat down beside her.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"Lily…James," she got out through sobs, "they're…dead…"

"How do you know that?" he asked staggered.

"I saw it," she whimpered.

"You what?" he asked.

"I SAW IT!" she screamed and buried her face in her uncle's chest and cried – cried so hard she thought her heart would break.

Lindsey looked into the teacup her uncle had placed before her on the table. She had recovered from the initial shock of seeing two of her best friends being killed and was now feeling miserable and somewhat frustrated for not being able to prevent it.

"You sure you feeling better, love?" he asked.

"I've stopped crying haven't I?" she retorted.

"That's not what I meant," he said placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It feels like a part of me has been torn away," she said. "Like a big gaping hole of pain in my soul."

"I know," her uncle admitted.

"How do you go on living like this?" she asked.

"You just do," he said, "you can't stop living because they do. You have to be strong and remember that you have things to live for. And one day you find out that the pain is less and you can remember without wanting to cry."

She looked up at him and saw the shadow of an old sorrow in his eyes.

"Who?"

"My partner for over ten years," he said, his voice a bit thick, "he was shot during what started out as a routine patrol. I was with him in the ambulance to the hospital; he died there on the gurney before we got there. It was hard. Seeing someone you hold dear die."

"You should go home," she said.

"I'm staying," he said. "You need me more than they do."

"I hope Sydney wasn't hurt when the glass mirror exploded," she said.

"I think she was more frightened than actually hurt," he said reassuringly. "As was Polly and Neil."

"Go home," she said again. "I need to be alone."

"You sure?" he asked.

"I have nothing to fear," she said, "the Dark Lord has been vanquished. That was news not even the Muggles missed."

"Shooting stars and owls in the middle of the day," he said, "your friends really know how to party."

"I think some just got a bit over-excited," she said and managed a weak smile. The Potters may have died but the greatest threat to our world was defeated."

She got up from her chair and followed him out into the hall.

"Take care, love," he said and kissed her on the cheek.

"I will," she said.

She stood in the doorway long after he had driven off. She thought the world looked a bit different, even though it really hadn't changed. The edges looked sharper, the colours more glaring than ever before.

'_Is this the way the world looks when you are grieving_?' she wondered silently and walked inside.

Feeling dizzy she leaned against the door for support and once again the near future superimposed itself over the present...

_On a rain soaked street in the middle of a crowd stood two robed men. One short and portly__ the other tall and slim. She knew them. Peter and Sirius._

_From the looks of it, it seemed as though Peter had Sirius cornered. _

_"Lily and James, Sirius! How could you!"_

_Before Lindsey had time to react to what Peter had said a big blast erupted and Lindsey had to cover her eyes - though it was pointless in her case. As the light disappeared she saw only devastation, everywhere people were screaming._ _The blast had created a big crater in the street, right down to the sewer and Sirius...Sirius was laughing as though all of it had been a joke_...

The world returned to normal and Lindsey sank down to her knees on the floor her mind blank.

* * *

Ben looked around the scene of the accident. He didn't believe for a second that this was done by a gas explosion, especially not with some very shady characters he had never seen before going around asking people questions and leaving them with blank looks

"Miss, you can't come through here!"

He turned around and saw two officers trying to detain a young female that looked as though she had been to hell and back. Her long blond hair was dishevelled and her grey eyes were opened wide and were red. Shockedhe realised that it was Lindsey and he hurried over to her. She made no show of recognizing him as he approached and he noticed that she was dressed in the same clothes as she had on when he left her and her face was bloody.

"What's the matter, love?" he asked.

"He couldn't have done this!" she said in a faint voice.

"Done what?" he asked. He saw traces of tears on her cheeks and wondered what on earth had happened to her after he had left.

"I refuse to believe," she screamed as she fell to her knees slamming her fists against the ground. "I can't believe it."

"Lindsey," he said trying to get through to her, "you shouldn't be here."

People were turning to look at them but he didn't care. His niece was obviously upset about what had happened here which confirmed his suspicions about it not being an ordinary accident.

"Love, you can't stay here," he said and she looked up at him.

"It's a mistake," she said. "They spoke of a traitor."

"Lindsey," he said and grabbed hold of her shaking her lightly. "What is it?"

"Excuse me, officer," a hoarse voice said. Ben looked up and saw a young man with light-brown hair standing there, though he really couldn't say why the man looked somewhat familiar.

"Yes" he said.

"I'll take care of her," he said.

"And you are?" he asked suspiciously.

"A friend," the man said, "we went to school together. My name is Remus."

Ben nodded and Remus helped Lindsey to her feet and then picked her up into his arms and carried her away from the crowd.

"Officer Bloodsworth!" his superior shouted.

"Coming," he called and went back about his job.

* * *

Warmth seemed to ease into his frozen limbs and the light that shown in from outside seemed brighter. Sirius turned his head and looked at the door and saw that the Dementors had moved away, he knew they would be back though. They had been very exited this morning so he suspected that someone had died or was dying.

He really didn't care which the case was, most of the people in here were going to die sooner or later and considering this place they all wished it would be sooner.

Slowly he got up from the stony floor and went over to the little window in the wall. Outside it was just water, miles and miles of sea. The warmth of the sun felt good against his face. Warmth was rare in a place like this.

He jumped as there was a plinking sound and something golden rolled away from him and stopped in the middle of the cell as it hit an indentation in the floor.

Surprised he picked up the golden object and noticed that it was a ring - a ring depicting two hands holding a crowned heart. He remembered that he had given someone a ring that looked exactly like this one, but he couldn't remember who. He shook his head. Whoever it was, they must be part of a wonderful memory, because in this place, those memories were the first to go. He looked down at the ring.

"I can't remember you," he said to the ring, "but considering what this design stands for I must love you very much."

A ray of sunshine hit the ring and made it sparkle as though confirming his words. He put the ring back onto his finger and realized that it was way too loose. Dismayed, he saw that all his fingers were too thin. No wonder the ring had fallen off.

He tore of a strip of cloth from his robes and threaded the ring onto it, tying it around his neck so he could wear it as a necklace. He put his hand over the ring as he looked out over the calm ocean,imaging that someone somewhere was doing the same thing.

* * *

Dialogue lifted from pages 134, 154 as well as 177 and 178 from '_Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_'. Parts of the description in the vision were also from the book.

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**To Be Continued...**


	10. Chapter Ten

**Harry Potter or any other characters associated with the book are the sole property of J. K. Rowling. Any original character created solely for this story belongs to me, Little C.**

**Reviews, comments and even flames are welcome. A big thank you to my beta reader Dorothy.**

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The Things We Never Did or Said, Chapter** Ten**

Opening her eyes Lindsey wondered where she was and what had woken her up. And then it all came flooding back to her. Yesterday had been one year exactly since Lily and James had died at the hands of Voldemort and Sirius had been thrown into Azkaban for life for the murder of Peter Pettigrew.

She had been stupid enough to drink herself into a stupor over feeling sorry for her lot in life and then cried herself to sleep. She felt as though a mountain troll had had a go at her and she wished the damn ringing would just stop. Sitting up she realised that the ringing wasn't inside her head, it was the doorbell.

Pulling on a dressing robe she staggered down the stairs and opened the door. She was immediately blinded by the morning sun and only saw a shadowed figure standing there.

"Late night out?" a familiar hoarse voice asked.

"Intense negotiation with a bottle of rum," she said, "the bottle won."

"It usually does," Remus said, "mind letting me in?"

"Sorry," she said and let him inside.

She closed the door, effectively blocking the sun, and turned to look at him, blinking like an owl. He looked tired and shabbier than she had ever seen him.

"You look like hell," she commented.

"Well," he said looking her over, "I've seen you look prettier as well."

"Want some tea?" she asked him.

"That would be lovely," he said.

She shuffled out into the kitchen Remus following in her wake.

"It feels like something crawled into my mouth and died," she muttered as she poured water into the kettle and put it on the stove.

"Know the feeling," Remus said. She turned and looked at him.

"You miss them?" she asked.

"Terribly," he answered with a nod. "And to my great shame I miss Sirius the most."

"Because he is still alive?" she asked as she took the kettle from the stove.

"Yes," Remus said.

She poured two cups of tea and carried them over to the table

"I see he managed to give you the ring," Remus said, pointing at the Claddagh ring on her left hand.

"It arrived in a letter," she said, "same day as...you know."

"Doesn't sound like a man that has decided to betray his friends," Remus said.

"You believe he is guilty?" Lindsey asked dismayed.

"How can he not be?" he asked her. "He was their Secret Keeper, only he could have given away their hideout to Voldemort."

"And you are sure he was the one?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered without hesitation.

"Why? Sirius loved James like a brother," she said, "what reason could he have to betray someone that he loved?"

"Power," Remus said simply.

"Ah yes," she said, "one of the most powerful and cleverest wizards to have attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry must join the Dark Lord. That's absurd."

"His whole family was up to their ears in the Black Arts," Remus said.

"And we all know how much he loved his family," Lindsey said.

"He was their Secret Keeper," Remus stated, "he was the only one who knew where they were hiding. Only he could give it away to the Dark Lord."

Lindsey sighed; the hangover made her head feel like it would explode any minute. She knew why Remus was so adamant that Sirius was guilty, because she was equally adamant that he was innocent.

They needed their conviction to keep them from falling apart, to keep all the hurt, sorrow and anger from overwhelming them. Like a patch on a wound that won't heal.

"And what if they changed?" she asked.

"What?"

"I said 'what if they changedtheir Secret Keeper?'," she repeated.

"They would have told me," he said.

"Would they?" she asked raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"Yes," he said.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Why wouldn't they have?" he asked back.

"Maybe they thought you were the traitor," she suggested.

"That's absurd!" he exclaimed.

"And the thought of Sirius being the traitor isn't?"

"Why would they change?" he asked.

"Maybe they thought Sirius was risky in the sense that too many knew him as James' friend and would go after him and torture the location out of him," she said, "so they choose someone that no one would think of."

"Like who?" he asked.

"Off the top of my head," she said, "Peter."

"Peter? Little Peter?" Remus sounded amused.

"He was the only one I could think of," she said. "Besides, it's more likely they would have used him than say...Snape."

"You got a point there," he said. "But why did Sirius kill Peter if he was innocent?"

"Emotions were running high," she said, "someone's wand might have accidentally discharged."

"Highly unlikely," he said, "besides you said you saw it all in a vision."

"I saw Sirius cornered by Peter," she said, "and then a big blast, but I didn't see whose wand it came from."

"You see! Peter was accusing Sirius of killing Lily and James," he said.

"Since when did Peter get a spine?" she asked. "Where would Peter have got the courage to accuse Sirius of anything? Much less murder?"

"Given the right circumstances..." Remus trailed off as she began to laugh.

"The right circumstances?" she said still laughing. "Listen to yourself You know as well as I that Peter was a coward. Hadn't you, James and Remus been his friends he would probably have fallen in with a very bad crowd."

"I think I knew him a little bit better than you," he said.

"I caught a very good glimpse of his character when I found out about your nocturnal excursions," she said, "he informed James and Sirius that you had returned and then he transformed into a rat and didn't return until it was all over."

"I remember being bitten by small sharp teeth," he countered.

"It's easier to disappear in the forest than in a room," she said, "and I'm sure he had his moments. We all have them."

She saw Remus open his mouth to say something but it was drowned out by the sound of a train whistle ...

_She saw the Hogwarts express pull into the station through the kitchen wall and once again she saw the pretty girl with long black hair in twin plaits clad in a__Hogwarts robe and__ Gryffindor scarf coming off the train being greeted by the same man and woman, only they looked much older _...

She found herself sitting on the floor with Remus holding her upright. She noticed that something warm trickled down her cheek as well as her nose. Her headache had increased; she hadn't thought that possible.

"Do I want to know what you saw?" Remus asked her.

"I'll tell you," she said, "but first I need to..."

She didn't finish the sentence but made a wild scampering run to the sink were she was violently ill. Remus gently stroked her back as her body was wracked with dry heaves after her stomach had emptied itself.

"I want to die," she muttered into the sink and she heard Remus chuckle.

"I'll help you get to bed," he said.

She made a small squeak when he scooped her up into his arms and carried her upstairs and into her room. She didn't think she would, but she fell asleep the minute her head hit the pillow.

Night was falling as she awoke, feeling much better than before only the thing that had crawled into her mouth and died must have brought some friends. Turning her head she saw Remus sitting in the lap chair that stood in a corner. He was reading a well-worn copy of 'Moby Dick'.

"Hey!" she said and he looked up from the book.

"Feeling better?" he asked coming over to sit on the bed.

"Much," she said and got into a sitting position.

"What did you see in your vision?" he asked.

"Same thing as I saw the day of our N.E.W.T.s," she said, "only a little bit different."

"The one you lied about," Remus said, "twice."

"James told you?" she asked.

"He mentioned it," he said.

"It's strange," she said, "that I have seen a vision so far into the future twice. Normally such visions don't come true, not that I would know since I never had a vision more than minutes before it actually happened."

"What did you see?" he asked.

"I stand on platform Nine and Three Quarters watching the train pull into the station," she said, "and I watch as a young girl with braided hair gets off and is greeted by her parents."

"Do you know who the girl is?" he asked curiously.

"I do," she said, "because the girl is Sirius' and my daughter."

Remus went as still as though he had been hit by a Body-Bind spell as he stared at her.

"Impossible," he managed to get out, "Sirius is in for life."

"Well, we didn't look as though we were in the prime of our youth," she said, "although we did look considerably younger in the vision I had back in school than the one I had now."

"Meaning the vision is different?" he asked.

"I said that," she said.

"How old would you say you were?" he asked.

"Fifty," she said, "closing on sixty."

"And when you first had it?" he asked.

"Around thirty maybe forty," she said trying to recall the vision.

"That is a ten years difference," he said. "And it would also mean that Sirius is innocent."

"It doesn't mean anything," she said, "just because I have seen it twice doesn't mean it will happen, the further into the future the vision is the less chance it has of actually happening. But it sure isn't the product of wishful thinking either."

All of the sudden Remus buried his face in his hands and started to cry. For a second or two she was too startled to do anything other than pull him into a comforting embrace.

"I want to believe that he is innocent," he cried into her shoulder. "I want believe that he wasn't the one that betrayed Lily and James. But I can't."

"Shh!" she hushed. "You don't have to believe."

"I miss him so much," he sobbed.

"So do I," she whispered softly, "so do I."

Outside the stars and the half moon came out and shone in on two lost people clinging to each other for comfort in a sea of pain.

The next morning she awoke to the smell of toast, scrambled eggs and coffee. Bewildered she made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. She found breakfast on the table and Remus standing at the stove wearing an apron.

"I hope you are hungry," he said when he noticed her standing in the doorway.

"Famished," she said and sat down. "I didn't know you could cook."

"It's amazing what you learn when you start living on your own," he said and gave her a cup of coffee. "This actually brings me to why I'm here."

"You mean that that wonderful argument last night wasn't the reason for your visit?" she asked in mock surprise.

"I was actually wondering if I could stay here for awhile, he admitted. "Just till I get a job, which might take awhile since not many people are that keen on hiring werewolves."

"I wonder why?" she said taking a sip of her coffee. "I mean they are human most of the time, and yes you can stay, I have more room than I really need."

"I will try and find a place to go once a month," he said, "though I wonder where I can find a place that will contain a werewolf."

"How about the basement?" she asked him pointing toward a door partly hidden behind the refrigerator. "It was remodelled as a bomb shelter during the Blitz. If it could stand against an air raid a werewolf should be no problem. Though I guess I should reinforce the door, just to be sure."

"Then I guess I only have to concentrate on finding a job," he said.

"Let's eat breakfast before it gets cold," she said, "then I'll show you to one of the guestrooms."

"One of the guestrooms?" he asked surprised.

"I said I have more room than I need," she said.

After they had finished the breakfast they both went up to the second floor and Lindsey led him to a locked door at the end of the corridor.

"It probably needs a bit of airing out," she said as she unlocked the door. "After my grandfather died my grandmother lived with us and this was her room."

"Maybe another room would be better?" he asked.

"Nonsense," Lindsey said, "it's a room, not a shrine. Rooms are to be lived in."

She opened the door and went inside; it was dusty and the air was stale, the white lace curtain that hung over the window had yellowed with age as had the bedspread. But aside from that and the dustit looked as it had when her grandmother had lived.

She moved into the room with Remus in tow and while he looked around the room she walked over to the window to let some fresh air inside.

"Your grandmother seemed to like abstract art," Remus commented as he looked at a series of paintings hanging on the wall.

"Those are Rorschach tests," she said.

"Never heard of a painter by that name," Remus said.

"Hermann Rorschach wasn't a painter; he was a psychiatrist from Switzerland in the early twentieth century," she explained. "Those inkblots in the frames are part of a personality test. You look at them and based on what you see people can tell what kind of person you are."

"Isn't it easier just to get to know a person?" he asked.

"Friends only know what we want them to know," she said, "psychiatrists want to know what we won't tell our friends."

"So your grandmother was a psychiatrist?" he asked.

"She was studying psychology when she met my grandfather," Lindsey said sitting down on the bed, careful not to disturb the dust. "Had they not got married, I have no doubt she would've continued with her studies. I don't think she regretted her decision, but if she did she never admitted it."

"Regrets are part of being human," Remus said. "We all have them, in smaller or larger quantities."

An uncomfortable silence fell between them before Lindsey finally spoke.

"If we don't get this room cleaned you will regret sleeping in it."

She slammed her hand down on the bedspread and a cloud of dust whirled up and tickled her nose which caused her to sneeze and create an even bigger cloud. Remus couldn't help but laugh as he moved to help her out of the dust.

* * *

The Blitz, sustained German bombings over England during World War II from September 1940 to mid 1941. London's population rate dropped with 25 procent when people that were able evacuated out into the country side – mainly children. Over 43 000 British citizens lost their lives.

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**To Be Continued...**


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Harry Potter or any other characters associated with the book are the sole property of J. K. Rowling. Any original character created solely for this story belongs to me, Little C.**

**Reviews, comments and even flames are welcome. A big thank you to my beta reader Dorothy.**

**

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**The Things We Never Did or Said, Chapter Eleven**

The train pulled out of the station and Remus took a deep breath trying to calm his nerves but the icy lump in the pit of his stomach refused to go away. Despite Dumbledore's reassurances, he thought it was still a great risk for him to attend Hogwarts. **  
**  
He looked up as the door to the compartment slid open and saw a boy about his age with messy jet-black hair and hazel eyes. He had a thin face and wore glasses.

"Do you mind if I sit down?" he asked. "Everywhere else is full."

"Not at all," Remus said.

The boy gave him a grateful smile as he stepped inside and slid the compartment door closed behind him and sat down.

"My name is James Potter," the boy introduced himself and held out his hand.

"Remus Lupin," Remus said and shook James' hand.

"You look a little pale," James said, "you sick or something?"

"I had a cold last week," Remus said, managing to keep the nervousness from showing on his face. He couldn't admit he was pale because it had just been afull moon.

"Nasty," James commented.

Suddenly the door to compartment slid open and another boy, also their age, with black hair and an aristocratic face stormed inside - seemingly without noticing them - and slammed the compartment door shut with a curse.

"Ahem!" James said and the boy whirled around. Fathomless grey eyes took them in, evaluating. James continued, "Is there anything we can do for you?"

"You friends of the Malfoys?" the newcomer asked.

"No," James said and looked at Remus.

"You?"Remus shook his head, still too shocked by the sudden appearance of the newcomer to speak.

"Ties to the Dark Arts?" the boy asked suspiciously.

"Absolutely not," James said vehemently and Remus flinched. His heart started to beat faster and he found he couldn't speak when James and the boy looked at him questioningly. He managed a small shake of his head.

The dark haired boy relaxed and leaned against the compartment door.

"Now that we have answered your questions," James said, "you mind telling us your name?"

"Sirius Black," the boy answered. "And before you say something let me just say that I might be bound to the Black family by name and blood but I denounce their ways and beliefs."

"That's good to know," James said. "I'm James Potter and he is Remus Lupin."

"Nice meeting you," Sirius said shaking hands with James before turning to look at him with thin eyes. "Did you spend the summer locked in a room? I know we live in Britain but we do get some sun!"

"I had a cold," Remus managed to squeak.

"Oh!" Sirius said and sat down with a sigh. "It's bloody murder out there. Next time I see that Lucius Malfoy he better pray I'm not holding a wand. Thank Merlin he is in his last year. And those goons he has flanking him, I've never seen boulders with heads and limbs not to mention the fact that they are about as stupid as they are ugly."

"First year at Hogwarts?" James asked.

"But of course," Sirius said. "I kind of like you two. Let's hope we can become friends."

"That depends entirely on if we get sorted into the same house," James said, "we might end up in different houses."

"I have a feeling we will end up in the same," Sirius said with a smile and he was about to say something else when they heard sounds of shouting outside the compartment.

Curious, they slid the door open and looked outside.

They saw a girl with braided ash-coloured hair sitting beside a rather podgy looking boy lying face down on the floor, standing over them like a guard was a girl with red hair, her arms crossed over her chest looking defiant as she was facing an older boy with white-blond hair and flanked by two mean and dim-witted looking guys.

"Why don't you go pick on someone your own size," the redhead said.

"And if I don't want to," the blond sneered at her.

"Then you will have to deal with us," Sirius said causing the blond to turn his attention to them.

"You again," he said sourly."

Yes, me," Sirius said, "just because my cousin, for some strange reason, seems to fancy you, Lucius, it doesn't mean that I do. So get lost before something unpleasant happens."

And to really emphasise his last statement, Sirius reached inside his robes. Lucius motioned to his flunkies and they left.

"You all right, Miss..." James asked curiously.

"Evans," the redhead said, "Lily Evans."

"My name is James Potter. This is Sirius Black and Remus Lupin."

Lily nodded to them in acknowledgment.

"And your friends are?" James asked.

"Oh, Lindsey Bloodsworth is my friend," Lily said and looked down at the podgy boy. "What did you say your name was?"

"Peter Pettigrew," the boy said getting to his feet with help from the girl named Lindsey.

"Now that all the excitement and introductions are over," Lily said, "we should probably return to our respective compartments. You coming, Lindsey?"

Lindsey followed Lily and Peter looked after them.

"You better come with us," James said to the boy.

Peter looked grateful and followed them back into their compartment.

As Remus was about to step into the compartment he felt someone looking at him and he turned and saw the girl Lindsey looking at him and holding her hand over her nose. When she noticed that he was looking at her she turned and disappeared...

...Remus was roused at the sound of someone knocking on the door. Still half-asleep, he got out of bed and stumbled over to the door and pulled it open.

Seeing who was standing outside jolted him right awake.

"Sirius!" he said, surprised. "You back in Britain?"

"Yeah," Sirius answered, "you mind me sitting down? I ran all the way here from Hogwarts, because I didn't dare Apparate."

"Sure," Remus said stepping aside to let his friend inside.

Sirius sank down in one of the kitchen chairs with a relieved sigh. Remus walked over to the kitchen counter and put a kettle on the stove. After the water boiled, he brought two cups of hot tea to the table and sat down.

"Care to tell me what brought you here?"

"I assume you heard about Harry being entered into the Triwizard Tournament?" Sirius asked and Remus nodded.

"I nearly had a heart attack," Remus said, "I don't understand how Dumbledore could allow it."

"I guess he thought Harry could handle it," Sirius said, "and with all the help his friends provided, he did, until last night."

"What happened?" Remus asked, torn between wanting and not wanting to know.

"Harry and another student from Hogwarts finished the third task together," Sirius began, "what no one knew was that someone had put a Portus spell on the trophy turning it into a portkey."

"To what end?" Remus asked.

"One of Voldemort's most loyal servants," Sirius said, "had managed to infiltrate the school with the task of making sure Harry would win the tournament. Seems Harry was going to be an instrument in Voldemort's rebirth..."

"What!" Remus exclaimed cutting Sirius off mid-sentence. "Voldemort is back! Harry saw him?"

"Apparently he was instrumental in the resurrection," Sirius said. "And that is not all, as soon as he had risen and called his _still_ loyal servants, he duelled with Harry. Had it not been for Harry and Voldemort's wands sharing the same core, he might not have made it all."

"Meaning?" Remus asked.

"It seems that the effect of two wands with the same core creates a sort of Priori Incantatem effect," Sirius said, "it made Voldemort's wand show spells it had previously done, showing the people he had killed."

"I don't think I want to know the rest," Remus said with a shudder. Suddenly he remembered something. "What happened to the other student?"

"He was killed by Peter on Voldemort's orders," Sirius said.Remus felt a wave of sadness rush through him, the first death had just occurred, the first in a long line. He wondered how many he would have to bury this time before it was all over.

"How is Harry?" Remus asked.

"He is hanging in there," Sirius said, "that is about all he can do."

They sat in silence for awhile before Sirius got up from his chair and went over to the stove to refill his cup. He turned and leaned against the kitchen counter.

"Dumbledore sent me to gather the old gang," he said, "he also told me to lie low here for awhile."

"I'm guessing you need a little help with the gathering since you are a wanted man," Remus said and Sirius made a face but nodded. "So the Order of the Phoenix is about to rise out of the ashes."

They raised their cups in a silent toast and an uncertain silence fell over them.

"Why did it take so long for you to open the door?" Sirius asked.

"I was sleeping," Remus answered, "I was actually dreaming about the first time we met, on the train to Hogwarts."

"We were so young then," Sirius said with a smile, "and arrogant little brats."

"Strangely enough," Remus said, "it was also the first time we met Lily and Lindsey as well, do you remember?"

"Now that you mention it," Sirius said, "I do remember Lily, but Lindsey was rather ordinary looking at that time."

"Do you remember what happened when we crossed over the lake toward the castle?" Remus asked.

"I nearly fell in," Sirius said, "Lindsey - who was in the boat with us - pulled me back, she actually put her arms around my waist just as I was about to fall. It was as if she knew I was going to fall!"

"I think she did," Remus said, "in the dream I remember turning just as I was heading into the compartment because I felt someone looking, so I turned and saw her. She had her hand over her face but I'm pretty sure she had a nosebleed."

"I wonder how often we starred in her visions," Sirius said with a smile. "She must have hated us!"

"I think it was just about that time when she came after us into the Forbidden Forest," Remus said.

"We were never in danger that night," Sirius said and Remus looked away. "Remus?"

"Moments before I picked up her scent and went after her," Remus confessed, "I was seriously contemplating attacking James."

"Then she was right," Sirius said, "she came after us to save him and ended up putting herself in danger."

"You want me to contact her?" Remus asked and Sirius looked questioningly. "Do you want me to contact Lindsey and let her know you are here?"

"Why bother," Sirius said, "she has her own family, why should she care about her fugitive ex-boyfriend?"

"Excuse me?" Now it was Remus' turn to be inquiring. "Lindsey is married?"

"Yeah, didn't you know?" Sirius asked him.

"No," Remus said, "but I'm pretty sure she would have told me had she gotten married."

"I passed her house after I had broken out of Azkaban and I saw her playing with kids in the garden," Sirius said.

"I think those kids were her cousins," Remus said, finally getting what Sirius was talking about. "She asked her cousin and her family to move in with her when I moved out."

"You lived with Lindsey?" Sirius asked looking surprised.

"For awhile," Remus said, "the year after the defeat of Voldemort I felt lost and had no place to live so I asked if I could stay with her until I could get back on my feet. We liked living together so I stayed a little longer than I intended. I guess she didn't want to live alone in that big house so she asked her cousin."

"So she has no one?" Sirius asked reaching into his robes.

"Not that I know of," Remus said. "She never thought you were guilty and she never took off the ring you gave her. She believed in you, even when I did not."**  
****  
**Sirius brought a tattered strip of cloth from his robes and Remus saw something that looked like gold glimmer on it. Sirius removed the object and he could see that it was a ring; a ring that matched the one Lindsey wore.

"I lost a lot of weight in prison," Sirius said, "and I couldn't wear it, couldn't even remember her name until I escaped."

Sirius put it on his left hand with the crown outward.

"It's still a little too big."

"You'll grow into it," Remus said with a smile.

"I guess you are right," Sirius said, "and I think I will start the process by raiding your pantry."

"Go ahead," Remus said laughing. "There is nothing in it."

"What kind of host are you?" Sirius asked grinning.

"A lousy one," Remus said and they both burst into laughter, knowing fully well that soon there would be little time for such a thing as laughter.

* * *

Lindsey was sitting at the table in the kitchen holding a cup of tea at the level of her face, but not drinking it.

She was staring into the light of the flame before her.Slowly she put down the cup and wetting her fingertips she put out the light; "And so it begins again."

She got up from her chair and out into the hallway. She opened the front door and walked into the night.

* * *

**To Be Continued...**

* * *


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Harry Potter or any other characters associated with the book are the sole property of J. K. Rowling. Any original character created solely for this story belongs to me, Little C.**

**Reviews, comments and even flames are welcome. This is the last chapter of this story so if you are planning to review now is the time to do it. A big thank you to my beta reader Dorothy.**

**Warning:** There is some brief nudity, you have been warned and also this chapter takes place during 'Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix' and that is your only warning, haven't read the book don't read the chapter.

**Author's note:** I just want to state that Lindsey's power is atypical of anything that exists in the books by J. K. Rowling and was solely invented for this story. They kind of have the same effect on her as Cornelia's powers have on her in the Angel series.

**

* * *

**

The Things We Never Did or Said, Chapter Twelve

It was a particularly bright and sunny day in March and Sirius was forced to witness it from inside the one place he thought he'd never set foot in again. The thought of being sent back to Azkaban was something he had come to terms with a long time ago; he was, after all, a wanted man. But to be confined inside the house where he grew up was not something he had ever thought possible. He once had walked out the front door with no intentions of ever returning and now he was back, trapped inside with a mentally deranged house-elf, the mad portrait of his mother and the occasional Order member for company. It was more than enough to make one go insane.

In Azkaban you had no will to fight - you had no will to do anything - the Dementors saw to that when they sucked all hope and happiness from you. Out here he could make a difference, but as long as he had a price on his head he would be more of a liability than an asset.

He looked down at his hands that were resting in his lap and saw the ring on his left hand glittering in the sunlight. It was a snug fit now and he was so used to it that he sometimes forgot he was wearing it, but he could never forget her. Remus had tried to help him to get in touch with her but she was nowhere to be found. According to her cousin, she had been missing since the beginning of last summer.

He heard the door to the room open.

"Have you ever seen Lindsey's Animagus form?" Remus asked and he turned and looked at him.

"Once," Sirius said, "back at Hogwarts, I asked her to show me and she did. Have you?"

"I did," Remus answered, "although it wasn't intentional. She returned from having been out one night and I stepped into her room as she was transforming back to human."

"Why do you ask?" Sirius asked, wondering what the point of this little chat was.

"Have you ever noticed how alike Harry's pet owl and Lindsey's Animagus forms are?" Remus asked.

"Now that you mention it," Sirius said.

There was a knock on the front door and he made a move to rise from where he as was sitting.

"I'll get it," Remus said and walked out of the room. Sirius sat down again; it was probably just someone from the Order returning from some secretive and highly dangerous mission.

"Um, Sirius," he heard Remus say.

"What?" he asked without turning.

"There is someone here to see you," he said.

Surprised he turned around and standing beside Remus – clad in a lavender robe – was Lindsey. He didn't know what to say, what to do. Everything seemed to fade away and the only thing left in the world was she. She walked up to him, not saying a word.

"I must be dreaming," he said reaching out to touch her face. Her skin felt warm and smooth to the touch.

"Then it's a good dream," she said.

"Yes," he said and she smiled, "it is."

"Not wanting to disturb the reunion," Remus said, "but how on earth did you find this place? It is hidden with numerous spells including the Fidelius Charm. And where have you been?"

"I've been around," she said, "after Voldemort rose I just wanted to get away. Harry wasn't the only one witnessing it. As for me being here, I went to Hogwarts and asked Dumbledore if he knew where one might find Sirius, it took some doing but he eventually told me."

"How is Hogwarts?" Sirius asked, wanting to hear some news about the place from someone that wasn't Harry. Though he loved his godson as if he were his own, he didn't trust the boy to be completely forthright with him. Probably mostly due to many a caution from Hermione, but he doubted Harry would ever say anything that would have him charging to the rescue, fugitive or not be damned.

"It's a powder keg," she said, "just waiting for something to set it off."

"Speaking of Hogwarts," Remus said. "Sirius and I were talking about something just before you arrived. Have you been keeping close to Harry these past few years?"

"What makes you think that?" she asked, obviously bewildered.

"Your Animagus is a snowy owl," Sirius said, "and Harry has a pet named Hedwig that is also a snowy owl, so we just though that maybe it was you."

"Interesting theory," she said, "but no, I haven't been keeping my eyes on the boy, I've actually tried to distance myself from the wizarding world as much as possible. Besides, it's not like I need The Daily Prophet to tell me what is going on."

"Visions?" Remus asked.

"More than you could possibly imagine," she said tiredly. "Some days I hardly know who or where I am. It's very disconcerting, sometimes I feel as though I'm at my wits end."

"Voldemort?" Sirius asked.

"Surprisingly few are actually about him," she said, "but I guess there will be more when he starts increasing his efforts."

"Is anyone in danger?" Remus asked and she shook her head.

"Not at the moment," she said, "not that I would know either, my visions are currently all in the future, being it months or years, never in the here and now. And before you say anything else may I please sit down and have something to drink because I flew all the way here from Hogwarts."

"We can sit down in the kitchen," Remus said.

Sirius was getting ready to go to bed when there was a knock on the door. Before he had time to open his mouth to say anything, Lindsey slipped into the room. Since it had grown late she had asked if she could spend the night.

"Something on your mind?" he asked politely.

"Does this still mean anything?" she asked holding up her left hand and the ring on her finger sparkled in the candle light. "Does it?"

"Mean what?" he asked dumbfounded.

"That you one day, might, if you feel like it, propose?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered and he saw that she relaxed slightly. "Was that all?"

"I'm sorry," she said with a sigh. "With all these visions lately I've grown paranoid."

"Is there something you want to tell me?" he asked.

"I wish I could tell you who will survive and who won't," she said, "but I can't. My visions are sometimes so far into the future that they are conflicting because even the smallest wordno matter how insignificant at the time can save hundreds of lives or make you lose the battle."

"Are you afraid that I will die?" he asked. "Because that won't happen. In case you haven't noticed I'm confined in this house, I can't leave. Well, I can leave, but I won't."

"Don't do that," she said suddenly sounding angry.

"Do what?" he asked.

"Making promises that you can't keep," she said, "you mean well but we both know that you can't just sit and watch those you love get hurt if there is a chance that you can help. Even a life sentence to Azkaban couldn't contain youso how could this house?"

"I risk being thrown into prison or getting a little kiss from a Dementor, if they can find one that is," he said, "do you really think I'll risk that?"

"Yes," she said, "because I know you. The next time Harry is in trouble, and he will since he seems to have inherited his father's talent of getting into trouble, you will be there to help him. You aren't the person that can sit idly by watching people get hurt, you are the kind of person that will risk life and limb to help."

"Lindsey..." Sirius started, but she silenced him by placing her fingers over his mouth.

"You are a hero, Sirius," she said, "and a hero needs to be heroic. And you can't be anything less than who you are and I wouldn't love you as much as I do if you weren't."

"Lindsey..." he began again when she removed her fingers but she silenced him once more, this time with a kiss. And what a kiss it was, they say that your first kiss is the most thrilling kiss you will ever have but this kiss made that one pale in comparison.

When they parted they were both panting as if they had been running. And he noticed that there was something wicked in the way she was looking at him.

"Do you believe in old-fashioned weddings?" she asked innocently.

"No," he answered, bewildered.

"Good," she said and pulled off her robe and let it fall to the floor, "because I don't intend to be an old-fashioned bride."

For a few minutes all Sirius could do was stare at her. He couldn't believe what she had done.

"What's the matter?" she asked, taking a seductive step toward him. "Cat got your tongue?"

"I've dreamt... I've fantasised..." he faltered.

"Dreams are no match for the real thing," she said as she took his hands in hers and placed them on her hips. "I know you're a hero, now show me that you can be a man."

Without a word he pulled her close in a soul-searing kiss.

* * *

Remus knocked lightly on Sirius' door but there was no response, so he creaked the door open enough to peer inside. In the light of a single candle he saw Lindsey lying with her head on Sirius' shoulder with one arm over his chest. Sirius had his arm around her as well.

Smiling to himself, Remus closed the door and went down to the kitchen.

_

* * *

All around her there was mist. She could tell that she was in a room although she couldn't see any walls. The mist parted and she saw and old gate with a tattered veil. Though it looked innocently enough, the mere sight of it made her blood run cold.__  
__  
__Although it was the last thing she wanted, she moved closer to the gate, stopping about a foot from it. She couldn't feel the wind that moved the veil, nor could she see what lay beyond, but she could hear whispering.__  
__  
__"...when the veil pulls back maybe all those that have gone before us will be there waiting..."__  
__  
__Slowly she reached out a hand towards the veil but before she could touch it, it folded back onto itself ... _

_She saw platform nine and three quarters. Watching the Hogwarts Express pull into the station almost in slow motion, she saw the pretty girl with long black hair in twin plaits clad in a Hogwarts robe and __Gryffindor scarf get off the train and was greeted with a huge hug from the tall man with black hair but this time he was alone_...

Lindsey jerked awake. Her head felt too big for her body and something warm trickled from her nose. She also noticed that something had glued shut her left eye. Feeling sick to her stomach she rolled out of bed and on hands and knees she felt around for her robe on the floor. She found it and pulled it on and then set out to find the kitchen.

Getting into the kitchen she found that both Remus and Sirius were sitting at the table drinking tea. Remus noticed her as she came in and hurried to help her sit down at the table.

"What happened?" Sirius asked as Remus went to get some water.

"I was dreaming and then I had a vision," she said, but she wondered what had been the vision and what had been a dream. She looked at Sirius with her eye that wasn't sealed. "You could have woken me up."

"I tried," he said as Remus returned with a wet cloth and gently washed away the blood from her face. "You just muttered something obscene and rolled over."

"I'm a heavy sleeper," she said a bit embarrassed.

"I noticed," he said with a smile.

"Did you see anything of importance?" Remus asked. "Try to open your eye."

"Not really," she said and blinked open her eye. "As I said I was dreaming so there is no way telling what was dream and what was vision."

She got up from the seat on unsteady legs.

"I should be going," she said. "I need to get back to my house and tell my cousin that I'm still alive."

"At least stay for breakfast," Sirius said, almost pleadingly.

"Sure," she said and sat down again.

She really didn't want to leave but she sensed that something was about to happen and she didn't want to get caught in it.

* * *

Lindsey was lying in a lounge chair in the backyard, enjoying the warmth of the June sun. This was the first time in four months that her pesky cousin Sydney had let her outside. Though she had been feeling poorly for the last couple of months she was feeling much better now, still her cousin treated her like she was made of glass.

Lindsey found out fairly early that she belonged to the group of women who weren't cut out for pregnancy. She wasn't surprised, her mother hadn't been either which was one of the reasons she was an only child. She only hoped that she wouldn't follow in her mother's footsteps and have a miscarriage, but since she was now in the second trimester of her pregnancy she figured it would be smooth sailing from now on. She was surprised that she hadn't had one single vision since that night she had spent with Sirius. Either it was because of her current state or it was mounting up for one gigantic vision, she was hoping it was the former.

Closing her eyes she relaxed, the sun warming her skin while the wind was softly wafting over her. She could hear the kids playing tag in the front yard and Sidney singing, her voice carrying through the open window in the kitchen.

"..._he was caught in the middle of a desperate fight/and she couldn't find how to push through_..." '

Suddenly everything felt far away and the sun no longer gave any warmth, the sound of singing and laugher grew silent...

_She opened her eyes and found herself standing on the topmost tier in a dim-lit, rectangular room with row after row of benches leading down to the floor - almost like an amphitheatre. She saw people, people she didn't know and people she did know caught up in a battle. She saw what looked to be a fifteen year old boy with jet-black, unruly hair and green eyes._

_"Harry!" she thought, surprised.__  
__  
__But her attention immediately deviated from the boy to the combatants when a familiar voice called out; "Come on, you can do better than that!"__  
__  
__She looked up to see Sirius being hit by a jet of red light square in the chest. She watched as he fell through the veil in the archway and was gone.__  
__  
__"SIRIUS!" she heard Harry scream. "SIRIUS!"__  
__  
__The vision began to fade as Remus hindered Harry from reaching the gate_...

And she was back in the garden with the sun warm on her face.

As in a daze she walked into the house. She couldn't believe what she had just seen, she just couldn't. There was a knot in her chest waiting to burst but she couldn't let it. As she put her foot on the lowest step of the stair she felt a familiar pain although much more intense than normal. Something was very wrong.

"Sydney!" she called, trying not to sound as panicked as she felt.

"Oh my god!" she heard Sidney gasp and then her cousin was by her side. "What's wrong?"

"Call Dr. Hansen," she said.

"You've got to get to the hospital," Sydney said.

"No time," Lindsey said feeling something warm trickling down the inside of her thigh. "Call Dr. Hansen. Now!"

"John! Sammy!" Sydney called. "Get your butts in here and help your aunt upstairs!"

Two bright-eyed kids - one boy and one girl - in their early teens burst through the front door and helped her up the stairs while their mother disappeared back into the kitchen to call the doctor.

By the time they made it up the stairs Lindsey was in such pain that her legs wouldn't support her and John had to carry her with some help from his sister.

They got her into her bed and as she was laying there enduring wave after wave of agonising pain, she let the knot in her chest burst and all the sorrow she felt as she had seen Sirius fall through the veil poured out of her in one word; "SIRIUS!"

* * *

Remus was back at number twelve, Grimmauld Place walking from room to room with an odd sense of looking for something or someone. Halfway down the stairs his knees gave out on him and he sat down heavily. Rocking back and forward he hugged himself tightly as if he could keep his sorrow contained that way.

"This can't be happening," he muttered over and over again, "not again."

How many loved ones was he going to lose to the darkness? James, Lily, Peter and now Sirius. He counted Peter as lost to the darkness, the man that now called himself Peter Pettigrew was not the Peter he had once known and called friend.

He looked up and saw something blindingly white lying on the floor in a speck of sunshine. Dazed he got up and over to it. Picking it up he noticed it was a feather.

"Lindsey!"

He had completely forgotten about her and in a split second he had gone from the murky darkness of Grimmauld Place to the sunny garden of Lindsey's Victorian-style mansion. He knocked on the door, and a woman in her mid-thirties opened it. She looked sad.

"I'm here to see Lindsey," he said.

"She is in no condition to see anyone," the woman informed him.

"I need to see her," he said urgently, "I'm a friend of hers."

"Have we met before?" she asked. "You lived here with her, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did," he said.She looked intently at him and he could see that she was debating on whether to let him in or not.

"Come in," she said, "but don't say or do anything that will upset her. She's upstairs in her room."

"What happened?" he asked. The woman had been on her way into the kitchen but stopped.

"She lost her baby," was all she said and disappeared out into the kitchen. Remus felt as if someone had dropped a bucket of cold water over him and he wondered distantly when this string of bad news would end.

Reaching Lindsey's room, he opened it carefully and saw that she was sitting up in her bed looking out the window. For the first time in all the years he had known her she had her hair loose and not braided. It was matted and hung lifeless down her shoulders and back, but he guessed that under any other circumstances it would have been vibrant.

He knocked softly on the door to make his presence known."Remus," she said, her face brightening somewhat.

"I'm afraid I have bad news," he said as he sat down on her bed beside her.

"I know," she said, "I saw it."

Her words came as no surprise to him, he had half expected it. He just wished that she hadn't.

"Your cousin told me you lost your baby," he said and she nodded. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"What was there to say?" she asked. "Had Sirius known his priorities would have been compromised, something he could not afford."

"But still," Remus said although he knew that she was right. Torn between her and Harry he would have faltered and that wouldn't have been good.

"Remus," she said, her eyes once again looking out through the window.

"Yes," he said.

"When the war is over," she said, "could you place a wreath of orange daises on my grave?"

"What?" he gasped. "Your grave? You're not going to die. You might feel like it but..."

He trailed off as she turned and looked at him. In her face he could see that she wasn't kidding, nor was the grief talking. It wasn't just that she had lost the love of her life and their baby. She just hadn't anymore life left in her. Remus felt a cold hand close around his heart.

"I was in no condition to get pregnant," she sighed, "all those visions took their toll on me. At the first of the pregnancy there was none and I thought it would be okay, but then I saw Sirius die and that was the straw that broke the camel's back."

"Your visions," Remus said, "of the girl at King's Cross?"

"That vision was altered once more the night I was at Grimmauld Place," she said, "he and the girl were there but I wasn't."

"Was the baby a girl?" he asked.

"They wouldn't tell me," she said, "but I know it was."

"I'm so sorry this had to happen," he said and took her hand in his. She smiled weakly at him, but suddenly her eyes widened, her body tensed and she gripped his hand so hard he heard the bones grating against each other. Horrified, he watched as bright red blood ran down her cheeks and nose.

She exhaled noisily and her body relaxed.

"Lindsey," he said carefully.

"'_For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see, saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be_'," she said. ''

"What did you see?" he asked.

"The future," she said weakly and Remus saw flecks of blood on her lips. "I saw the future and it was beautiful."

She turned and looked at him.

"Tell Harry that..." the last remained unsaid as her eyes slid closed and the breath left her body. She was gone.

He didn't remember how but somehow he got outside and was sitting on the stairs of the front porch. Tears were running unhindered down his cheeks. He had lost everyone, he was all alone.

Suddenly the death gate appeared before him as if to taunt him in his sorrow. But the veil pulled back and he saw a sunny garden in perpetual bloom, and in the shade beneath a tree three people were sitting. One of them suddenly got up as a fourth person came running towards them and they met in an embrace. The other two got up as well and also hugged the newcomer welcome.

The veil closed and the gate disappeared. Remus felt as if some of the sorrow lifted. It was still there, but was no longer unbearable. He could live with it. He had to, for the sake of those he loved and those who needed him still.

* * *

' Sydney was singing "Moonlight Shadow" by Mike Oldfield. The quote is from the first verse. 

'' Lindsey was quoting Lord Alfred Tennyson

Some of the text in the scene in The Chamber of Death is actually taken from the book.

**

* * *

The End**


End file.
